Crittical
by Queen Sunstar
Summary: Brighton is fighting for his life at the Skyland Memorial Medical Center, and something evil returns. Brighton may be the only one who knows its weakness, but he is in a coma, and Twila is not talking, ether. Luigi finds himself thrown into a quest... R
1. The Nightmare Begins

**Queen Sunstar: This is a Brighton/Twila story. Brighton is fighting for his life in the ICU at Skyland Memorial Hospital, and Twila may have to make a heart wrenching decision. On to the story.**

**Twila: Queen Sunstar owns the story, Dr. Toadala, Maria, Solarton, Sol, and Bri. She doesn't own anything regarding the Mario Bros. Hey wait a minute here. This is Brightons job!**

**Queen Sunstar: I know, but it is your job for this story.**

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**Critical**

**Chapter One: What is going on?**

Twila, the moon, was relaxing by enjoying a good book in Clockwork Castles Library, and didn't notice that the sky had gone dark, when the phone rang. She chose to ignore it, and focused on the unfolding romance in her book, reaching behind her to hit the light switch.

Shalom, a Shy Away wearing a butler's uniform walked into the Library carrying a cordless phone on a red pillow, sitting on a silver tray.

"Milady, Solarton wishes to speak to you." Shalom said, bowing as best as he could while holding the tray.

Twila finally looked up.

"Bring me the phone." She said, putting the book down.

Shalom brought the tray over to her. She picked up the phone.

"Yes? This is she. What? You don't know what happened? Is he okay? What? Skyland Memorial? I am on my way!" Twila handed the phone back to Shalom, and stood.

"Shalom, go have Greg bring the car around." She ordered. The butler bowed.

"As you wish." Shalom walked out of the room. Twila ran to the bedroom, and found her purse. She checked to make sure she had her cell phone, and grabbed her wand. She ran out the front door, where a Koopa Troopa with dark gray eyebrows and mustache, wearing a chauffeurs uniform, stood waiting.

"Milady. Where to?" the Koopa Troopa asked.

"Greg. Skyland Memorial, and floor it." Twila climbed into the back of the silver Ikea Optima with the license plate spelling skylord. Greg bowed, and said, "As you wish, milady."

Greg climbed into the drivers seat, and pulled out of the driveway. He looked back at his passenger through the review mirror with one eye, while the other stayed on the road.

"What troubles you, Milady?" Greg asked, unable to take the silence any longer.

"Its Brighton. He was rushed into the Skyland Memorial Hospital, but I don't know anything else. Solarton was being vague about the details." Twila turned and stared out the window.

"He will be fine, Milady. He will pull through." Greg turned onto the main road, and entered Solarsky. Minutes later, he pulled into a parking space in front of Skyland Memorial Hospital, got out, and opened the door for Twila, who ran inside the hospital. She went up to the receptionist, a toadette. The toadette's name tag read Maria. Her hat was periwinkle blue with a marking of a sun on top, showing she was from Skyland. She wore a nurses uniform, and looked up as Twila entered.

"They brought Brighton in a few minutes ago, and where is he?" Twila asked.

"What is your relation to Brighton?" Maria asked. She had a authoritarian attitude about her.

"Do you not recognize me?" Twila asked, trying to keep her voice level.

"Yes I do, Milady. I take it you are here about Brighton, right?" Maria asked.

"Yes, where is he?" Twila tried again. She was saved by Solarton.

"Twila, there you are!" The Overlord called.

Solarton was old, and wore a solid yellow robe. He had the traditional sun shaped head, but sported a mustache similar to Eldstars. He used a curved cane decorated with mini suns and moons when he walked.

"Lord Solarton, what happened to Brighton?" Twila tried, again, as she followed Solarton to a private waiting room. The room was empty, and consisted of green chairs and couches against white washed walls.

"Sit." Solarton ordered.

Twila obeyed the command. She sensed the feeling behind the simple command. There was authority, and fear, laced into the command.

"Well? What happened to Brighton?" Twila pressed.

"Twila, we may have to let Brighton go." Solarton said.

"FOR SOLARIS"S SAKE ALREADY! WOULD YOU PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON?" Twila snapped, causing Solarton to wince at each word.

"Brighton was attacked while working his shift in the sky. These attacks are very peculiar in nature. Brighton is the third victim. The first was a sun working in the Shroob galaxy. He was killed instantly. The second attack happened to a sun working in the Andromeda Galaxy. He died hours later. The Shroob Galaxy is trillions of light years away from the Andromeda Galaxy. No sun, moon, or star can orb, twinkle, dream travel, flame, shimmer, go between, wink, or anything else I haven't mentioned, that kind of distance in two days. Each sun that has been attacked is the head sun of the galaxy. I have no idea over who or what is behind these attacks. Eldstar has grounded all suns." Solarton said.

"What is the nature of his injuries?" Twila felt herself start seething.

"I am not sure of the full extent of his injuries, but he looked like he had been through a shredder." Solarton said. Twila gave up trying to pry information out of the Overlord.

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"What ever attacked Brighton, and killed Sol and Bri, orbed to each destination." Skolar said, holding what looked like an electromagnetic energy reader with several long antenna sticking out one end. The contraption was black, and the antenna were white. Two of the antennae glowed blue, and the black box buzzed.

"They can't orb that kind of distance, though." Kalmar, who was with him, pointed out.

"True, may be they never orbed the full distance. Professor Gadd and I were working on a theory about how to use warp points to catapult yourself large distances while orbing." Skolar said, pushing several buttons on the box. The thing started jumping around like crazy.

"What are you picking up?" Kalmar asked.

"Solar energy, and lots of it. What is Brightons normal output?" Skolar asked.

"Brightons normal output is a little over 40 kilos, why?" Kalmar asked.

"There is nearly 400 kilos of solar energy, raw solar energy." Skolar said.

"Brighton's highest output reached 120 kilos. No normal sun did this. What about a Cancerous Sun?" Kalmar asked.

"A Cancerous Sun's output reaches 200 kilos, and they go supernova. Even they can't orb a distance like that." Skolar explained.

"Lets see, Shroob to Andromeda is 12.5 trillion light years, Andromeda to Milky-way is again, 12.5 trillion light-years. The next galaxy would be the Irregular Galaxy, and its head sun, Lady Luminosity. It takes two days for them to travel, so she will be attacked two days from now. Call Solarton." Kalmar said.

Skolar pulled out a cell phone, and called Solarton.

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Solarton was half asleep when his phone rang.

"Overlord Solarton speaking. What? You think Lady Luminosity is next? I will find her." Solarton closed the golden phone, "Twila, I have to go back to Solar Hall, and contact a Sun in a distant galaxy. You okay by yourself?"

"You go. I have called Mario. He is on his way." Twila said.

Solarton passed by Mario in the lobby. Mario walked into the waiting room, and sat next to Twila.

"I took the liberty of calling Luigi, Wario and Waluigi, Daisy, Peach, Yoshi, Bowser, and Donkey Kong, who are on the way over. Any news?" Mario asked.

"He was attacked, and they don't know who did it, or why." Twila said, quietly.

"Was it Lowser, Belmoth, or Villana?" Mario asked.

"We don't know." Twila said, as the others began to trickle in.

"Lady Twila, we heard, and we are here for you. We will get through this together." Donkey Kong was the first to arrive. Bowser, and his wife, Eleanor, were right behind him.

"Thanks, DK, you are a true friend." Twila whispered.

Peach and Daisy came in followed by Luigi and Yoshi. Wario came in with Waluigi five minutes later.

"Waluigi, that is the last time I let you drive!" Wario glared at his older brother.

"Well, excuse me for obeying all the traffic laws and regulations!" Waluigi retorted.

Peach pulled a frying pan out of her purse.

"Don't make me use it on the two of you!" She said, glowering at them.

They all took seats, and waited. Mario pulled out a Nintendo DS and a wireless link-up and challenged Luigi to a round of Mario Kart. Bowser joined them, pulling out his own Nintendo DS. Long hours slid by. It was three in the morning when a doctor finally came in to the waiting room. His surgery garb was covered in blood.

"Are you all here for Brighton?" He asked.

"Yes, they are all with me." Twila stood.

"I am Dr. Toadala, the attending that worked on Brighton. The prognosis is not good. He took a hard hit to the abdominal area, and the blow crushed rips, and tore his liver into two. He has massive internal bleeding, and we did everything we could, but it is touch and go. We had a tough time trying to stabilize his vitals, and right now, he is in a medically induced coma. He may not pull through." Dr. Toadala said, keeping constant eye contact with Twila.

"May I go see him?" She asked, struggling to contain her emotions.

"All of you, follow." Dr. Toadala led them down two floors to the ICU, and took them to a private waiting room.

"He is in Room 4, second door on the left of the hallway. Here is my pager. Page me if anything comes up." Dr. Toadala left them.

Bowser turned to Eleanor, and saw the pain in her eyes. The last time they had been in the ICU, they had been forced to decide whether or not to take Koopa Troopa, Eleanor's older son, off of the life support after a bad accident on Rainbow Road. In the end, they lost Koopa anyway. Bowser knew it still hurt Eleanor deeply, having to lose a son like that.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Donkey Kong asked.

He had been there with them when Koopa died. He had felt their grief, and had cried, himself, since he had been in the car with Koopa when it crashed. He managed to escape the car before it rolled, but Koopa had been knocked out cold, and had gotten crushed by the heavy car. He was rushed to Skyland Memorial, and died sometime in the early morning due to an internal bleed

"Yes, but it is not Koopa, may he rest in peace, but Brighton. I wonder, who attacked Brighton anyway?" Bowser wondered, an arm on Eleanor's shoulders.

"Twila, you go first. Mario, go with her." Peach said.

Mario stood, and followed Twila. He braced himself mentally to face what he knew would be a gruesome sight. They walked down to room four, and went inside. Mario heard Twila gasp sharply, and turned to look. Many different monitors crowded the tiny space. Tubes and wires ran from each one, to the injured Brighton, laying on the bed in front of him. Brightons eyes were closed, and pain showed on his face. His chest was covered in thick bandages, and several IV lines ran into his body. Mario noticed the hanging bag of blood, and swallowed, trying not to pass out on Twila. He quickly adverted his eyes from the bag of blood.

"Brighton… Mario, I am sorry, but I have to get out of here." Twila turned and left. Mario turned and followed her. They went back to the waiting room.

"Twila, you were with him for barely five minutes. What is wrong?" Daisy asked.

"It hurts, right now." Twila let the tears she had been holding in, fall freely.

Donkey Kong handed her a tissue. Twila let herself be lead to a chair, and sat. after a few minutes, she looked up at everyone else.

"Go visit him. I will go back in a little bit. I need some time alone right now." Twila said.

"Come on, Daisy. Lets go back and visit." Peach said, dragging Daisy with her. Slowly, the others followed suit. Twila was left alone.

'_Please pull through this, my love. I can't lose you._' She thought to herself.

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**Queen Sunstar: That is it for chapter one. **

**Twila: If you want to read more, leave a review, and Queen Sunstar will be more then happy to update the story. Review, please!**


	2. Worsening Condition

**Queen Sunstar: Here is Chapter Two of Critical.**

**Twila: Queen Sunstar doesn't own anything regarding the Mario Bros. She owns the story, and some of the characters like Solarton, Sol, Bri, Maria, Dr. Toadala, and Solance.**

**Queen Sunstar: I am going to warn you all now. I may get very graphic with some parts, and this story shouldn't be read by little kids, as it will cause nightmares.**

**Twila: Queen Sunstar also owns Lady Luminosity, and Lunella.**

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**Chapter Two: Worsening Condition**

Overlord Solarton stood before a video screen. He typed in a command.

"Transmitting now, Sir." the computers voice was female.

Minutes ticked by, before the overly cheerful voice of Lady Luminosity came out of the speakers.

"Irregular Galaxy, Luminosity speaking. How may I help you today?" Luminosity said.

"Something is attacking Suns, and I think you are next. Sol and Bri, two powerful Head Suns of the Shroob Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy are dead, and Brighton, Head Sun of the Milky-Way is fighting for his life on Earth, in Skyland, Inside Skyland Memorial Hospital, in the ICU. I want you to get out while you can. This is a direct order." Solarton explained.

"Each of those galaxies are over 12.5 trillion light-years apart from each other. Is this some sick joke?" Luminosity asked.

"Have I ever cracked a joke in my life?" Solarton asked, "This is serious!"

"You are serious. Do you want me to evacuate every person my galaxy?" Luminosity asked.

"No, you need to get out. Come to the Solar Hall." Solarton said.

"I'll get out, ASAP." Luminosity turned to her husband, a moon.

"Lumi, what is it?" Lunus asked.

"That was the Overlord. I must leave here for a while. I am putting you in charge, Lunus." Luminosity said.

"Meeting?" Lunus questioned.

"Yes, Overlord Solarton has called an emergency meeting of all head Suns. I will be home in a week." Luminosity said, hating to lie to the one she loved.

"I will be here, waiting, my love." Lunus said.

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Twila forced herself to swallow. She walked back into the room. Mario and Peach were there, and Mario was doing everything in his power to not look at the hanging bag of blood.

"Twila, Brighton will pull through. He will be fine. They are only keeping him in the coma so his damaged liver can heal." Peach said.

"I know, Peach, I know. It hurts, seeing him like this. The Brighton I knew was so full of life. Who would do something like this?" Twila asked.

"Skolar is trying to figure that one out." Mario said.

"I miss Brighton, you know? Yesterday morning feels like it happened years ago. I can still remember it so clearly." Twila closed her eyes, "I remember, Brighton yelping in pain as he managed to somehow overshoot the turn to the bathroom, the sound of the shower running, his cheerful good morning, as I roll over to bury my face in my pillow," Twila stopped, reliving the morning in her mind.

"Brighton was-I mean, is a morning person. He loved the early morning." Peach said.

A monitor started beeping rapidly. Dr. Toadala ran into the room, and shooed Mario, Twila, and Peach out into the waiting room.

"He's gone tachycardiac! He is not getting enough oxygen into his bloodstream! I need a ventilator in here!" Dr. Toadala screamed.

Meanwhile, in the waiting room, Peach and Twila choose to sit, while Mario paced.

"Mario, calm down." Peach said.

"Peach, I can't help but worry. Brighton is my father, and I don't want to lose him." Mario said.

"Mario, I understand. Here is the Doctor, now." Peach said.

Both Mario and Twila turned to the doctor.

"The situation is grave. Brightons liver is dieing, and there is a high number of toxins in his blood. He is too ill to undergo a transplant. He is not getting enough oxygen in his bloodstream. We put him on a ventilator. Twila, I am asking you, do we pull the plug, or wait?" Dr. Toadala asked.

"You don't know Brighton, doc. He will pull through this. I will not make this kind of decision. This is nothing compared to what he has survived before." Twila said.

"What if Brighton was able to undergo a transplant? I could donate a part of my liver. He is my father." Mario said.

"Here is my decision. We give Brighton a chance to fight." An old fire had returned to Twilas dark gray eyes.

"We will need to test you to see if you are a match first. Come." Dr. Toadala said.

Mario left, following the doctor, and Twila went back to the room.

"You are not going to die on me, you hear? We have been through so much together. I lost you once, and I will not lose you again. I love you, and I almost died without you in my life. You saved this world so many times. You have stared at the face of pure evil, and won the fight. You will win this fight." Twila turned to the window, "Am I being selfish by not letting them pull the plug on you? Are you suffering too much?" Twila turned back to Brighton. She saw the pain in his face.

"Twila." Peach came into the room followed by Greg.

"Yes?" Twila asked.

"Milady, do you want me to take you home?" Greg asked.

"No, Greg. I am fine." Twila said.

"Milady…" Greg tried.

"Greg, why don't you go back to the castle." Twila kept her voice firm.

"Yes, Milady. Call me if you want to go home." Greg turned and left.

Mario came back into the room.

"I am a match. They are going to do a transplant later in the morning." Mario said.

"Mario, you are too kind." Twila said.

"I am doing this because he is my father." Mario said.

"I understand, Mario." Twila said, "You are doing this to save Brighton."

Over the next few hours, a steady stream of doctors and nurses filed in and out of the room. At about seven in the morning, a toadette dressed in surgical garb came into the room.

"My name is Dr. Harmony, and I am the head surgeon here at this hospital. I will oversee the operation. Who is our lucky donor?" Dr. Harmony asked.

"I am." Mario said.

"A nurse will come by to take you to a room where you can change into the hospital garb." Harmony read Brightons chart, "Wonderful, we have a split liver situation. The surgery is scheduled to begin in one hour."

Right on cue, a male nurse came for Mario. Peach followed.

"We are going to move him into the OR now." Harmony said.

Twila went back into the waiting room. Peach and Mario had stayed all night with Twila, while the others opted to go across the street to the hotel. Bowser shocked everyone by paying for their stay. They all were in the waiting room, when she entered.

"We heard about what happened." DK said, standing. He offered his seat to Twila, of sat down in it gratefully.

"Thanks, DK." She said.

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Skolar orbed into Professor Gadd's garage, with the energy reader. He found Gadd, working on a computer.

"The energy reader worked like a charm." He said.

"What did you pick up with it?" Gadd asked, turning around in his seat.

"I picked up high readings of Solar Energy, 400 Kilos, to be exact. I picked up traces of orb trails, too. What do you make of it?" Skolar asked.

"Any sun goes supernova at 200 kilos, plug it in right here." Gadd said.

Skolar plugged the black box into the computer, and watched Gadd work. Gadd typed in a command, and a black screen came up with several differently colored lines running through it. Each line was a different color. On the bottom of the screen, an orange line traveled up and down with perfect curves, each line over the orange line was less curved, and bounced up and down erratically.

"That is strange. Brightons output of solar energy is low. He was working at 20 kilos, and dropped down to -20 kilos with perfect rhythm. A normal Sun works anywhere between 30 and 40 Kilos. Why was Brighton working at a low level, yesterday?" Gadd asked.

"He could be going into cool down." Skolar mused, "What about the other lines?"

"The red line is orb energy, the yellow line is Solances solar energy output, he was working at 37 kilos, normal for him, the red line should drop off the graph. It is impossible to get orb readings like these. These other lines, one is a warp reading, and the other is a flame reading, and they belong to Brighton, and Solance." Gadd explained.

"Lets isolate the orb line, and see what happens." Skolar said.

"Isolating it now," Gadd said, "And playing it back now."

What Skolar heard next made his blood run cold. From the speakers, screams of sheer terror, and voices flowed into the room.

_"Leave the Shroob Galaxy! Solar Squall!" _

_"Like that is going to slow them down, Sol!"_

_"I don't hear any ideas from you, Bri!"_

_"l haven't thought of any yet! Sol!"_

_"You two are pathetic!"_

_"Prepare to be destroyed."_

_"Yea! What they said!"_

_"Not if I have anything to say about it!" _

_"Sol! You can't beat them! Don't be stupid!"_

_"Celestial Fire Incineration!"_

_"Sol!"_

_"You are next."_

_"SOL! YOU KILLED SOL!"_

_"you wanna join him?"_

_"YOU MURDERERS! CELESTIAL THUNDERBOLT! SMASH!"_

_"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

_"You destroyed one of us."_

_"Gee, ya think?"_

_"Wah! He was Oww! What was that for?"_

_"You are an idiot."_

_"I know!"_

_"Are you two done arguing yet? Here is a Celestial Thunderbolt! Smash! To remember me by!"_

_"Oww. That hurt. Here is our parting gift."_

_"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

"What is this?" Skolar asked.

"Its Sol, and Bri's last moments alive. One of the beings they fought sounded almost robotic in nature. The question now is, Who are they?" Gadd swiveled his chair around to look at the Star Spirit.

"Make me a copy. I am going to show this to Eldstar. He may know who they are." Skolar said.

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Twila watched the doors leading into the OR. She felt nervous inside for some reason, and it scared her. After what seemed like days, Dr. Harmony came out of the room, her face creased in sorrow. Twila felt her heart leap into her throat, and her stomach did a flip flop.

"Twila, come." Dr. Harmony said.

Twila got up and followed. She was lead into Harmony's office.

"Mario did beautifully in surgery, but we ran into a complication with Brighton. I am afraid he didn't make it through surgery. He suffered from a grand mal seizure, and we were unable to resuscitate him. I am sorry." Harmony said.

"No, no, no, no, not Brighton, he can't be gone!" Twila felt someone shaking her.

"Wake up, Twila!" Someone ordered, "Or I'll barbeque you alive!"

Twila's eyes shot open, and Bowser barely had time to step backward to avoid getting hit by Twilas head.

"I am okay. I had a bad dream. I'll be fine." Twila said, sitting back down, and calming herself. It wasn't much longer until Dr. Harmony came out of the OR.

"Mario did beautifully, and will be fine once he awakens from the anesthesia. We had a few tense moments with Brighton, but he is doing fine. We are keeping him inside the OR for now incase of further complications. If he can get through the next forty-eight hours without another respiratory or cardiac incident, We will move him back to the ICU, and possibly start weaning him off of the anesthesia keeping him in the coma." Dr. Harmony said, "Up to two people at a time inside the OR, and as soon as Mario is able, you may visit him too."

"Mario donated a part of his liver to save Brighton's life." Peach explained to the others.

"Twila should be first to see Brighton, and who is going with her?" Bowser asked.

Eleanor stood.

"I'll go with her." The periwinkle blue shelled Nokis said, following Twila.

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**Queen Sunstar: Thus concludes chapter two. I am having major computer problems, and you may not hear from me until sometime after Christmas. My computer is dying slowly. I do have limited access to a laptop, meaning I can only be on the laptop for up to two hours a day, and updates to any of my stories will be slower then I originally thought. For those of you looking for new computers, don't go to Gateway. First my laptop battery blew up my laptop after eleven monthes, now my computer is dying, after six years of dutiful service. I plan to get a Dell after this one finally dies. Gateway computers are nothing but trouble.**

**Twila: Hey, the screen is flickering from normal colors to dull, yellow tinted colors. **

**Queen Sunstar: Twila, we are waiting.**

**Twila: I know, I was having fun watching the monitor flicker. Don't forget to review!**


	3. Supernatural Happenings

**Queen Sunstar: Chapter three is here.**

**(Twila faints)**

**What is it with everybody fainting when I update a story?**

**(Revives Twila)**

**Twila: (still in shock) You actually remembered Critical!**

**Queen Sunstar: I put it on the back burner for a while. Now that I finished three of the five stories I was working on, I can give it the attention it needs. **

**Twila: Queen Sunstar doesn't own anything regarding the Mario bros. We belong to Nintendo. She owns Eleanor, Luminosity, Solarton, Twiletta, Solance, Lunus, and Lunella. (Goes off to read the chapter)**

**Queen Sunstar: This story has had 76 hits. I am not complaining, but it looks sad compared to my other stories with over 300 hits. Once this one is finished, I plan to start The Starborn Trilogy. On to story. I go by hits, but reviews are very nice. The graphic warning is still in effect from last chapter.**

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Twila and Eleanor entered the O.R. Eleanor gasped sharply, remembering seeing her son, Koopa, in the O.R, after hearing he had died on the table. Twila turned toward Eleanor.

"I am fine, Milady." She said, forcing the memory to the back of her mind.

"You know what I am going through, right?" Twila asked.

The light blue Nokis only nodded, knowing all too well what the Moon was feeling inside. Twila settled herself down in a chair near Brightons side. She sighed to herself. It hurt to see the one she loved in pain, and what made it worse was the fact she was powerless to stop his pain.

"Twila, I know it hurts right now, really, I do. I feel your pain. I remember being down here, knowing my son was in pain, and being unable to stop his pain. Brighton will be fine. He will pull through." Eleanor said.

"I wonder, is Brighton suffering? Is it selfish of me to keep him alive when I know he is in agony? Don't mind me. I am running on zero sleep." Twila said.

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Eldstar listened to the CD again. Something about the villains voice seemed familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. As he listened to it again, it clicked.

"No, it can't be… Smithy?" Eldstar mused, listening to the recording again. There was no doubt about it. One of the voices belonged to Smithy. As he thought about it, he remembered the Blade, and placed its voice for the robotic one. The last voice clicked in as Snifit Three.

"Geno said he destroyed them! Something is not right here." Eldstar walked over to the com, and pushed the speak button.

"Geno, come in, Geno! Are you there? This is Eldstar speaking! Please respond!" Just as he suspected, he got no response. He hit the com again.

"Misstar, Klevar, come with me." He ordered, meeting up with the two other star spirits outside the starlets room.

"Okay, this is creepy." Misstar said.

"Are we scared?" Klevar asked.

"No, I am not scared!" Misstar shot back.

"Knock it off, you two! This is serious!" Eldstar said, breaking up the argument before it could start. He knocked on the door. No one answered. Swallowing nervously, - where had the nerves come from? - he opened the door.

It was empty. Geno was not inside it. The room was a disaster area. Books, papers, pens, pencils, and other debris littered the floor. The bed was made neatly, and looked like no one had slept in it in days. The desk chair had been tipped over, and papers covered the top of the desk.

"Something tells me Geno didn't go willingly." Klevar said.

Misstar screamed suddenly. Eldstar and Klevar ran to her side. She pointed down at the floor, where a big black spider crawled silently across the floor.

"You screamed over a spider?" Klevar asked, color returning to his face.

"I'm scared of spiders!" Misstar cried.

"Now that I have finished having a heart attack, lets look for clues." Eldstar said, his tone sarcastic.

"Sorry, guys." Misstar blushed.

"Guys, I found blood!" Klevar called awhile later. He was over by the window. Misstar and Eldstar joined him. He pointed to the blood splatters, and the bloody hand print on the window still.

"He must have fought back, but was injured in the process. He tried to save himself by grabbing on to the window still." Eldstar mused.

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Lady Luminosity entered the Solar Hall. She went to the sitting room, and met up with Solarton.

"Good, you have come." Solarton stood.

"Milord. You were vague about what was after me. Care to elaborate?" Luminosity asked.

"I don't know much about that, Luminosity. All I do know is that two of my suns are dead, and a third is fighting for his life. They were attacked brutally by something, or someone." Solarton answered.

"I see. I am going up to my guest room." Luminosity said, turning and leaving.

As the Sun walked up the stairs, she got the sense that someone was watching her. She turned around, but no one was there. Luminosity walked down the hall, again, she turned. She saw nothing. As she turned around, a shadowy figure jumped out at her. It landed on her shoulders, and she screamed, trying to fight back.

Solarton raced up the stairs, Twiletta behind him. They entered the hallway, and found a trail of blood leading up to the window at the end of the hallway. Like in Genos room, a bloody hand print was on the window still.

"Luminosity!" Solarton ran up to the window, and looked out. A fog had settled in, making visibility low. Solarton punched the wall in frustration, "Darn! What kind of Overlord am I? I failed to protect Luminosity, Sol, Bri, and Brighton! I failed my oath! I swore I would protect them, and I failed!"

"Milord, I don't think you failed." Twiletta said, coming up behind the Overlord. Twiletta looked like Twila, except her colors were dark and light purple. Her wand had a silver moon on top.

"I have to report to Eldstar." Solarton walked into the main computer room.

"Who to you wish to call?" The computer asked.

"Get me Eldstar." Solarton said.

"Working, sir." The computer hummed, and Eldstar came up on the screen.

"Solarton, I was going to call you. Geno is missing, and we found blood in his room." Eldstar filled Solarton in on what had happened, and shared his suspicions.

"Eldstar, they took a fourth Sun." Solarton explained what had happened.

"This is bad. I am going to see if I can get a guard on Brighton, around the clock. Preferably a pair of Moons, since they haven't attacked Moons yet." Eldstar signed off.

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"Snift 3, I am tired of listening to you go on about Smithy." Blade spoke, its one optic on the cowering Snifit below it.

"B-b-blade, I c-can't help it! W-when I get n-nervous, I r-ramble!" Snifit 3 cried.

"I can't have this. Breaker Beam." Blade fired off a blast of high heat, and melted the Snifit. It cybernetic brain told it that this was the best way, the only way. Snifit 3 was just an unnecessary distraction that needed to be dealt with. It already found two replacements. Geno and Luminosity stepped out on its deck. Genos eyes were black, much like Luminosity. Behind them, came the shadowy being. It was the Blades servant, known as The Soul. The Soul was a shadowy being with two red eyes.

"Master, They didn't come willingly." The Soul said.

"You put them under your spell, I take it?" Blade asked.

"They are fully under my spell, Master." The Soul said.

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Twila watched Eleanor leave, and Luigi came in.

"How is he doing, mother?" Luigi asked.

"Dr. Toadala came by. He said that Brighton is doing okay." Twila said.

"Mario is awake. He wants to see you." Luigi said, "Daisy and I will stay with Brighton. Eldstar called, and Bowser and DK are standing outside, acting as bodyguards. Geno and Luminosity got taken."

"I'll go up to see Mario." Twila left, and walked up two floors to Mario's room, and went in.

"How is Brighton doing?" Mario asked by the way of a hello.

"Hello to you to, my son. Brighton is doing much better now." Twila gave into her motherly instincts, "How are you feeling?"

"That's good. I am feeling great, no pain." Mario said.

At that moment, Luigi burst through the door. He looked scared, and was babbling incoherently.

"Luigi, what is wrong?" Twila asked, her fear like an iron fist over her heart.

"Luigi, stop talking like you've just seen King Boo!" Mario ordered.

Luigi stopped talking, and calmed himself down.

"I saw shadowy Geno walking in the halls outside the O.R." Luigi said.

"Shadowy Geno?" Twila questioned.

"He means Geno, one of Eldstars starlets. Geno helped defeat Smithy eight years ago." Peach explained.

"That explains it." Twila said.

"Why is Geno here, and why is he shadowy?" Mario asked.

"Waluigi." Luigi said suddenly.

"Okay, now I am confused." Twila said, "And you've lost me."

"Remember about three years ago, Lowser resurfaced and kidnapped you, and all but killed Brighton? Waluigi is Geno. He became Geno to fix the star road. When Eldstar gave Waluigi is body back, he created a new starlet in the process, called Geno." Mario explained.

"And this affects Waluigi how?" Twila asked.

"We discovered that Geno, the starlet, can repossess its former host body, namely, Waluigi." Mario explained.

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Down in the O.R waiting room. The shadowy figure slithered along the wall, and elsewhere, Luminosity killed the lights. Daisy was sitting in the O.R when the lights went out. She couldn't see a thing. Several nurses ran in, and the emergency lights flickered on. Daisy took her cue to exit while the nurses took the place of the machines in keeping Brighton alive.

Waluigi looked up as the lights went out, and heard a familiar voice behind him. He felt cold, icy hands on his shoulders, and screamed.

"Wario! Wait, Wario is too short to reach my shoulders. Mario! Wait, he is two floors away. Luigi!" Waluigi screamed.

"Wrong brother…" the icy hands owner whispered.

"Wario, if this is some sick prank, cut it out!" Waluigi tried, sweating nervously.

"Not Wario, or Mario…" The voice hissed.

"Me?" Waluigi asked.

"Correct, Waluigi… prepare to be assimilated… by your past!" the voice snarled, and Waluigi felt the hands go right into his back. He screamed in terror, groping around in the dark for his assailant. Wario heard him screaming, but he couldn't help him because he couldn't see him. Suddenly, Waluigi stopped screaming, and moving altogether. Geno ejected Waluigi's spirit, and claimed Waluigi's body as his own.

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**Queen Sunstar: What do you think? Creepy, or not creepy? This story was sitting on the backburner for awhile.**

**Twila: Review, please! Queen Sunstar and I love getting reviews!**


	4. The Mystery Deepens

Warios heart pounded in his throat. He grouped around in the dark, feeling for a familiar shape. Suddenly, a fireball lit up in somebody's hand, causing Wario to yelp in surprise.

"Wario, calm down. Its me, Eleanor, Bowsers wife." Eleanor said, causing her fireball to burn brighter, "Good thing I mastered Firebrand."

"I heard Waluigi screaming, and I can't find him in this blasted darkness!" Wario cried.

"I am having a hard time finding Bowser." Eleanor said.

Suddenly, the lights came back on. Wario looked for the familiar stick like figure of his older brother, and couldn't find him anywhere. He did find a trail of blood leading to a window, and a bloody hand print on the window still, the hand facing inward.

"NO! THEY GOT WALUIGI!" Wario wailed.

"Geno got Waluigi." Luigi said, walking back into the room, "Where's Daisy?"

"She was visiting Brighton last I checked." Eleanor said, standing over by the O.R. doors. Bowser and DK had traded places with Eleanor and Yoshi. DK was inside the waiting area, and Bowser was sitting in one of the chairs. Luigi walked into the O.R, and looked around for Daisy. He didn't see her.

'_No, not the lady love of my life! Who ever did this is going to wish they were never born!_' Luigi felt himself start seething inside, and had to take a minute to stop himself from going Brightsun. He stared at the still form of Brighton, still being kept alive by the nurses, and remembered that soon he would have to leave Daisy, leave Mario, and his new found brothers, Wario and Waluigi, heck, he was going to have to leave the life he had known and move here to Skyland where Brighton would begin training him to become the new Great Lord of Skyland. He decided now to dwell on it right now, and enjoy the time he had left with his family and friends. As Luigi walked out of the O.R, he wondered if he would still get to see them once he became Great Lord of Skyland.

"Daisy is gone." Luigi said, trying to talk past a lump in his throat.

"Somebody is going to have to go save them." Bowser said.

"I know, Bowser. I plan on going." Luigi said.

"And I'm going with him." Wario said.

Everybody stared at him in shock.

"Wario, are you feeling okay?" Luigi asked.

"I feel great, why?" Wario asked.

"You are going on a quest with me, that's why!" Luigi cried.

"I lost someone important to me, and I want him back, okay?" Wario said.

"Okay then, Wario. We need to look for clues first. I am going to go talk to Mario, and Mother about this. You are coming too, Wario." Luigi said, heading for the stairs. Glumly, Wario followed. They climbed up two floors to Mario's room, and went in.

"Mario, you need to talk. Tell me everything you know about Geno, now!" Luigi ordered.

"Luigi, what has gotten in to you?" Mario asked.

"Daisy is missing, and Geno took Waluigi. Talk, I am waiting." Luigi said.

"Geno was the third member of my team against Smithy. He joined the team after helping to defeat Bowyer. He didn't tell us much about himself, just that he was a starlet working for Eldstar, and that he was there to repair the Star Road. That's all I know about him." Mario said, as Twila came back into the room.

"I was just talking to Eldstar, and he said that Snifit 3, Smithy, and the Blade are behind this." Twila said.

"The Blade? It went down with the Axem Rangers. Geno went down to check for survivors, and when he came back, he said that there were no survivors." Mario said.

"Could Eldstar be wrong?" Wario asked.

"Eldstar wrong? Eldstar has never been wrong about bad guys, except the Daybreak guy. Everybody was wrong about that. I don't think Eldstar is wrong this time. We would have felt it." Twila said.

"Daybreak guy? Who's that?" Luigi asked.

"Nobody you need to know about!" Twila said, a little too quickly.

"Mom, what is up with you?" Wario asked.

"You don't need to know about the Daybreak guy. Forget that I even mentioned it. As you were saying about Geno, Mario?" Twila asked.

"When Geno came back from his little side trip, he was different. He basically stopped being happy. I assumed he was just feeling depressed because his time on Earth was ending soon. You don't think something happened down there, do you? Now that I think about it, he looked like he had been in a battle." Mario continued.

"I remember it like yesterday." Peach said.

Peaches Flashback

_Peach was the first one up in the morning as usual. She walked outside her tent, and stroked the fire. Once she had a nice blaze going, she started on breakfast. Mallow was up next. He was in the middle of breakfast when Geno returned from his trip down the volcano. Right away, Peach knew something was up. Geno looked like he had been through one rough battle after another. His cloak was torn, and he was covered in a layer of volcanic ash._

_"Geno?" Peach questioned._

_"Yes? If you mind, I am headed to my tent to get cleaned up." the blue warrior said, disappearing under the flap of his own tent._

_Mario and Bowser had joined Peach and Mallow for breakfast, when Geno reemerged, much less dusty, from his tent. He joined them for breakfast._

_"Geno, your report?" Mario asked._

_"No survivors, Mario. The Blade won't be flying ever again. I ran into some trouble on the way down the volcano, in the form of Dry Bones, the kind that don't die until you spray pure water on them, or give them a hard hit." Geno reported._

_"Did you see all five Axem Rangers?" Mario asked._

_"Yes, I did see all five of them, stone cold dead." Geno answered, "I even checked for pulses on all five of them."_

_"Okay, you said that the Blade would never fly again, care to elaborate?" Mario asked._

_"It took a lot of damage in our recent battle, and looked like it had blown up upon crash landing. We need to get moving soon." Geno said, "I can hear the desperate cries of the final star."_

End Flashback

"Do you think something happened to Geno while he was down inside the Blade?" Wario asked.

"He acted completely different after that. He started questioning my orders, and just plan acted out." Mario said, "I felt like I was dealing with a teen. Something must have happened inside the Blade that changed him."

"Wario and I are going to go back to where the Blade supposedly went down, and start looking for clues there." Luigi said, "I am more worried then scared about Daisy."

"You two are not going alone. Solance is going with you." Twila said.

"What?" Wario cried.

"But we don't need a babysitter!" Luigi protested.

"This thing is destroying suns. It would make short work of the two of you. Solance has his evolved form, and his beast form. He will be able to help you." Twila said, firmly.

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Daisy struggled against the ropes wrapped around her. She did not scream. She stopped struggling, and eyed both of her captors. Luminosity was someone she knew from the new years party three months ago at the Solar Hall. She had gone as Luigi's date. Geno, she had heard stories of Geno's heroics.

"Why is the Blade taking so long?" Geno asked, tapping a foot impatiently.

"It'll be here! Relax, Geno!" Luminosity cried.

A low hum filled the air. The Blade hovered next to them, and Daisy felt herself get pulled up onto the deck of the Blade.

"You found the Celestial Guardian, I take it." Blade asked.

"Yes. This one is Flora, Guardian of the Earth elementals." Geno said.

"What? I have no clue as to what you are talking about! I am not Flora! I have no clue what a Celestial Guardian is!" Daisy cried out.

"Sure you do, Daisy. Its who you are." Luminosity said.

"Take her below deck, and throw her into the cell. She will be dealt with once we have found the other three Guardians." Blade said.

"Certainly." Luminosity said, dragging Daisy with her.

Daisy thought quickly.

"Luminosity, you are a sun. You are good! Why are you doing this?" She tried. Her answer was the cell door being slammed in her face. Daisy went to the back of her cell, and thought about what she had heard.

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Twila walked back down to the ICU O.R. Brighton was back on the machines now that the power was back on. She yawned, realizing how tired she was as she sat down next to her husband.

"I really wish you were awake, Brighton. I think the Daybreak guy is making a comeback. I sent Solance with Luigi and Wario to handle this. Daisy was taken, and I am afraid he knows who she is." Twila said, falling silent. She wondered what Brighton would have done.

'_He would have gone to deal with this threat himself._' She thought.

'_You are right, Twila. I would have gone and dealt with this myself. Tell me, what has happened? Its like I am asleep, but I can't wake up._' Brighton replied, his mental voice strong in Twila's mind. The Moon jumped from surprise.

'_Brighton! When did you, you know, wake back up?_' Twila asked.

'_It is kind of hard to say. I think I woke, for lack of better term, some time ago. What happened to me?_' Brighton asked.

'_You were attacked, brutally, in the sky, and Solarton brought you here, to the Skyland Memorial Hospital. Your liver failed, and they did a liver transplant. Mario gave you his liver to try to save you. Your attackers have claimed Geno, Luminosity, and Daisy. I sent Solance with Wario and Luigi. Geno reclaimed Waluigi. I think it is the Daybreak guy._' Twila explained.

'_Describe the attacks._' Brighton ordered.

'_Um, there's a trail of blood leading toward a window, with a handprint pointing inward. What do you make of this? Is it the Daybreak guy?_' Twila asked.

'_Twila, I destroyed the Daybreak guy's body, but I went down before I could handle its soul. I am afraid the soul may have found a body to take over, after nearly 5000 years of searching. You said it took Daisy. It wants her, and the three other ones because of what they can do for it. Daisy is one of four Celestial Guardians. I alone know who they are. Not even Eldstar, or Solarton know. Daisy is Flora, Guardian of the Earth elementals. The others are Pyronia, Aqueena, and Thundrina. Peach is Pyronia, Violet is Aqueena, and Rose is Thundrina. They are our sons girlfriends. Send Peach with them, for her protection. If all four Guardians are captured, all hope will be lost._' Brighton explained, '_Trust Geno. He is my spy._'

'_I'll let peach know. You rest, and heal. Unfortunately, your wound can't be healed, because it is under the fatal category. You will live._' Twila walked out into the hall way, and nearly ran into Peach.

"Peach, you have to go with Solance, Wario, and Luigi. You will understand why later." Twila said.

"I can't leave Mario." Peach said.

"Princess, I know. You need to go with them. It is a matter of world wide security." Twila said.

"I don't understand." Peach said.

"Peach, Mario will be fine. I am his mother, and I will watch him. You need to go with them for reasons that I can't say." Twila said.

"If you are that insistent that I go, then I will go. I only hope they can protect me." Peach said.

"Go join Luigi and Wario outside. I called Greg, and he is on his way. He'll take you back to Clockwork Castle where Eldstar is waiting. He will give you further instructions." Twila watched as Peach left after acknowledging the order.

'_Be careful out there, guys. The whole world is counting on you._' She thought.

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**Queen Sunstar: The chapter is finished! **

**Twila: Please Review! Oh, and Queen Sunstar does not own anything regarding the Mario bros. They belong to Nintendo! She owns Solance, Solarton, the Daybreak guy, Luminosity, Twiletta, Lunus, and Lunella. Review!**


	5. Clarification at Last

**Queen Sunstar: Greetings! Chapter Five is here at last! The Graphic warning is still up! Critical is the sequel of Brotherhood, in case you are curious, and you will find references to Brotherhood here and there in the story.**

**Twila: Nintendo owns everybody except, (Pulls out list) Solarton, Solance, the Daybreak guy, Eleanor, Twiletta, Lunella, Sol, Bri, Luminosity, Lunus, Lumin, and Brightstar. **

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Princess Peach found herself outside, waiting for the car with Luigi and Wario. She kept one eye on Wario, who chomped noisily on a clove of garlic. The other eye stared at the road.

"What's a pretty lady like you doing, going on the quest with us?" Wario asked, his breath forming a toxic cloud as he spoke.

"Wario, keep your disgusting, revolting, greasy body away from me!" Peach scooted closer to Luigi.

"What? I was only trying to make small talk!" Wario cried.

"Dude, eat a breath mint, or do we need a replay of the Dry Bowser incident?" Luigi asked. (**Brotherhood, Ch. 5**)

"My breath is not that bad. See?" Wario took a breath, and let it out. There was the sound of moving bones.

"Wah! It's happening again!" Wario took out a container full of tic-tacs, and downed the whole thing.

A lone Dry Bones walked by, giving them an odd look. Luigi rolled his eyes. Peach only shook her head exasperatedly. The sound of car engine drew their attention toward the road. Greg, a Koopa Troopa with dark gray eyebrows and mustache climbed out of the car. He wore a blue chauffeurs uniform. The car was a golden Lexus SUV with the license plate, Skylord. Greg opened the side door, and closed it after everyone climbed in. a few minutes later, Greg drove through the heart of Solarsky.

Luigi stared out the window, his mind on Daisy. Peach was next to the other window, and Wario took up the other 3/4s of the seat, between them. Peach kept her eyes on the road in front of her, and watched as Clockwork Castle inched closer. The castle was the largest one in the world, its size 4 times that of the Mushroom Kingdom Castle. Its outer wall had been extended to wrap around Solarsky, and the inner wall wrapped around the colossal structure itself. The second largest castle, at half the size of Clockwork Castle, was Castle Kooplin.

"Did you know, if you were to walk on the inner wall and go around the castle once, you would walk 15 miles." Greg broke the silence.

"Wow, that is quite the distance." Luigi said.

Fifteen minutes later, they pulled into a two level garage outside the main door of the castle, and much to Wario's dismay, they parked on the far side of the garage.

"Come on, Wario!" Luigi called, reaching into the car to drag Wario out of the car.

"But it is too far to walk!" Wario complained.

"Move it!" Luigi ordered, helping Peach out of the car.

"Okay, I'm-" Wario never had a chance to finish. They felt Eldstar orbing them to him. They appeared inside a sitting room. A fire burned inside the fireplace. Two white couches lined the back wall, and three overstuffed white armchairs formed a half circle around the fireplace. Three more white couches lined the other walls. White end tables separated the couches, and the chairs. Each end table held a box of Kleenex, a white lamp, and a short stack of magazines. The floor was hardwood, and wood paneling reached half way up the wall. The ceiling was white, and the top portion of the wall was white. Luigi recognized the room as the White Room. He knew that this room was used mostly as a waiting room.

"If I may have your attention," Eldstar spoke, "I have news to tell you of."

"Why am I going with them on their quest?" Peach asked.

"I will explain that. Luigi, Wario, Solance, and Peach, you four are going on a mission. You four are going to go intercept the Daybreaker. It is time I told you everything." Eldstar explained, glowing softly, as he used one of his vast array of powers to replay the entire tale.

**ELDSTARS STORY**

_Overlord Solarton paced worriedly. An ember entered the main floor of Solar Hall, out of breath. It quickly found the Overlord. _

_"Sir! (pant) the rumor! (pant, pant) Its true!" the ember cried out._

_"The Daybreaker exists?" Solarton asked._

_"Yes! I saw him!" Ember screamed._

_"Ember, go alert the fireballs, and everyone else! I'll alert the stars, the Moons, and the suns! This is war!" Solarton raced off. Ember ran the other way to the com, and pushed it._

_"This is not a drill! I repeat! This is not a drill! Report to Solar Hall on the double!" Ember ordered, repeating his message over and over again._

_Solarton moved with the grace of someone half his age. He reached the lower level of the basement floor, and typed in a password into the touch pad on the wall. A section of wall moved, revealing a door. The Overlord raced through it, and turned left. He came up to another touch pad, and typed in a second password. The wall responded, and Solarton entered a room so secret that only he and two others knew about it. He walked over to the case in the back of the room, and opened it. Inside, lay a Sunstone. This one was solid white gold, had the imprint of a moon next to a star in the center, and had wings. Carefully, he hung the ancient artifact around his neck, and walked over to the back wall. He raised the Sunstone and whispered the two lines of ancient text that granted him access to what lay behind that wall. _

_Behind the wall lay a high tech facility, called the Counter Evil Unit, or CEU for short, ran by other suns, moons, and other beings. Everybody stopped talking and stared at Solarton as the wall closed behind him. No one had used the top secret entrance before._

_"Sir?" a moon questioned._

_"Its go time." Solarton said._

_Everyone scrambled to find a station, and sat down. Lumin, head of the facility, a moon wearing a solid blue robe and wore glasses walked to stand beside Solarton. He was the same height as Brighton, and had the same gray eyes of his older brother. Like Brighton, he too, had suffered from the same childhood illness that cost Brighton his vision, and he, his right eye. He sported a black mustache, and carried a handheld computer, which beeped as it sent data to the various systems in the room. When he spoke, it was a baritone slightly higher then Brightons._

_"The Daybreaker go time?" Lumin asked._

_"Yes!" Solarton said, with more force then he realized, "Sorry!"_

_"It is okay, sir. You are stressed. Look alive, people!" Lumin ordered his team._

_"But sir!" a wriggler cried out, "If I type any fast- there goes my top set of hands! Somebody quick! Stop them before they run out the front doors!"_

_"Ignore them! Use your next set, my good man!" Lumin called encouragement to his team._

_"I am not fishing his hands out of the toilet later!" a black shelled Koopa Troopa joked, silencing himself at Lumin's dirty look. He quickly turned back to his screen, and went back to work._

_"There go my second and third set of hands!" the wriggler from earlier cried out._

_"Focus, people! Locate the Daybreaker!" Lumin called again, moving around the room, and stopping to offer words of encouragement here and there._

_"I've got a hit!" a black dragon winged yoshi screamed, typing furiously. Lumin and Solarton were by his side in an instant._

_"Report!" Lumin ordered._

_"it's a hit, sir! I am running it through the interface right now! Got it! it's the Daybreaker!" the yoshi screamed._

_"Location?" Lumin asked calmly._

_"um, got it! Quadrant 4.A, coordinates, 562.7689!" the yoshi cried. _

_Good work. Team, I am assigning you new jobs! Station one, monitor the Daybreaker! Station two, search for any weaknesses the Daybreaker may have! Station three, and four! You are on back up for one and two!" Lumin ordered, "five and six, battle strategies! Seven and eight, battle scenarios! Go, go, go!" _

_Solarton hung back as Lumin ran the facility. He remembered his days of running the CEU so long ago. Lumin turned to him._

_"Go alert the Suns!" Lumin said._

_"Make sure I get the data this time!" Solarton said, flaming out to the main computer room, "Teltran!"_

_"your wish?" the computer's voice was distinctly female._

_"Send out an alert to all Suns, and have them meet me here! Its go time!" Solarton ordered._

_"Working, sir." Teltran responded._

_A few minutes passed._

_"Your request has been finished, sir." Teltran said._

_Solarton left, and entered the main foyer of the Solar Hall. Ember was still there, repeating his message._

_"Ember, begin transformation of the Hall." Solarton ordered._

_"Yes, sir." Ember punched in the code, and the floor vibrated as weapon turrets rose up from the ramparts, and arrow slits opened up on all four corner towers. Shy guys and shy aways ran about, readying weapons, arming the Koopa Troopas, Goombas, Wrigglers, Yoshies, Paratroopas, Electropuffs, Fuzzies, Dayzees, Spikes, and other allies with weapons, and handled other preparations of the upcoming battle. Two shy guys and a shy away surrounded Solarton, and handed him his flame sabers, and fire shield._

_"Armor?" the shy away asked._

_"No need." Solarton answered._

_The suns started to arrive._

_"What is going on here?" Brighton asked, nearly getting ran over by a shy guy. He had his sword, and his bow and flaming arrows. He carried a shield similar in design to Solartons shield._

_"We are going to war." Solarton responded._

_"Who we fighting?" Brightons younger brother, Brightstar, asked, tightening the string on his own bow. He tested it with a snap. Lumin was the youngest of the three. Brightstar had the same gray eyes of his brothers, but he had not contacted the disease his other two brothers had during his childhood. He looked like a younger version of Brighton, and wore a solid red robe. Brightons robe was orange on one side, and yellow on the other side, showing his ranking as a Great Lord. Brightstar's robe had a golden stash running down it, showing that he was the general of Brighton's army. Lumin had no decoration on his robe. _

_"We are preparing to fight the Daybreaker." Solarton said._

_Silence filled the once noisy room._

_"Daybreaker?" Brighton asked, taking a few practice swings with his sword, much to the dismay of several shy guys standing near him, they scattered, knowing that despite his blindness, Brighton was a master swordsman and archer._

_"The Daybreaker is an evil bad guy, very powerful, has mastered strange elements, and has an array of deadly powers." Lumin was the one who answered._

_"Any more?" Solarton asked._

_"It is big, and looks like a black sun, well, imagine Twilis, the half blood, dark." Lumin said._

_Twilis lived during the time of Solarita, and was once the Overlord. Twilis was half sun, and half moon. His head was shaped like a moon but he had the spikes of a sun along the outer curve. His robe was blue and light blue on one side, and orange and yellow on the other side. He was tall, so his robes only went down to his lower shins. Twilis had been Solarita's husband. He had mastered all four of the main elements, and several rare elements as well as being a master swordsman._

_"Okay." Brightstar said._

_The floor shook._

_"Its here!" Lumin screamed, accepting a sword and shield. His field agents stood with him._

_"Alright, everybody! Lets make this quick and painless!" Solarton called, taking the lead with Brighton on his left, and Lumin on his right. They surged outside like the ocean moving into high tide, right into the waiting arms of the Daybreaker and its armies. _

_A massive battle raged. People screamed as they died left and right. Brighton fired off three arrows at once, each hitting a different target. Brightstar and Lumin were back to back, fighting with their swords. Overhead, the air forces caused destruction to rain down from the blood red sky. It was Brighton who found himself fighting the Daybreaker with his sword. Back and forward they went, swords clanging as they hit a shield, or the other sword. The Daybreaker got lucky by landing a glancing blow which Brighton deflected with his left wrist. He dropped his sword, his hand hanging limp and bloody off his wrist. With his left hand impaired, he switched to his bow and arrows, performing a triple flip backward as he fired off an arrow. The power behind the arrows were poor as he was unable to use his left hand too much._

_Solarton sensed the agony of one of his suns, and flamed out to appear next to Brighton. He blocked a blow from the Daybreaker, and ducked as one of Brightons arrows flew over his head and landed with a firm thunk on something. The Daybreaker screamed in pain as Solarton sent a fireball at the arrow, igniting it. Brighton sent another arrow, this one burning, at the Daybreaker and heard the thunk of it hitting its target. Solarton lit one of his sabers, and succeeded in embedding it somewhere inside the Daybreaker. Brighton let another arrow fly. Brightstar and Lumin appeared and blocked off an attack from the Daybreaker. Lumin found Brightons sword, and tossed it to him. Brighton flamed out to appear behind the Daybreaker and tightened his hold on his sword. Before he could land a blow, the Daybreaker retreated._

_This went on for three days. On day three, Brighton, his left hand bandaged, raised his sword behind the Daybreaker while Lumin kept it busy in front. Brightstar had suffered some serious injuries during the last battle, and lay inside the Solar Hall, recovering. Solarton lit his remaining saber, and slashed his way through a bunch of shadow Goombas. Brighton brought his sword down and thrust it through the Daybreakers chest. Lumin sliced off its head. The brothers watched the bloody corpse fall, and turned at the same time to different directions. Brighton felt the arrow hit him in the leg, and nearly went down. Lumin turned, and sliced the head off a shadow Koopa in the process. The dark side began to retreat at it realized the Daybreaker was no longer with them. No one saw the soul float out of the body, and float up behind Brighton. Lumin saw, and screamed. Brighton turned, and took a sword hit to the shoulder. _

_Red lightening crackled around the souls body, and slammed into Brighton, causing the young Great Lords body to jerk violently, and fall, pushing the arrow through his leg. Lumin screamed again, and raised his left hand. It glowed white, and white hot ultraviolet light smashed into the Souls body, causing it to fade away. The battle winded down, and finally ended. Lumin stayed with Brighton. Solarton joined the moon, and knelt by Brighton._

_"Lumin, he was impressive in battle. Too bad it had to end this way." He said sadly, "How's Brightstar?"_

_"He is doing okay. The doctors say he lost a lot of blood. It will hurt him the most to hear that we lost Brighton." Lumin's voice broke, and a tear rolled down his face, to drip off his chin. It landing on Brighton's unmoving body. There was a low groan of pain from the fallen sun._

_"Any chance you are a phoenix moon?" Solarton asked._

_"I have the phoenix blood, but I am not a phoenix moon." Lumin said, "Why?"_

_"Your tear brought back Brighton. Lets get him inside, and to some much needed medical attention." Solarton said, "Brighton, can you hear me?"_

_"ooh… yeah." Brighton answered, his eyes still closed from pain._

_"We are going to move you, okay?" Solarton asked._

_"Okay." Brighton replied._

_Carefully, Lumin helped his brother up, and let him lean on him for support. Together, with Solarton following, they walked back to Solar Hall._

**END ELDSTARS STORY**

"We were wrong about the Daybreaker. We thought Brighton killed him, but it came back as a disembodied soul. It has spent the last 5000 years searching for a new body to steal. I am afraid it is Waluigi's body it is after because Waluigi's body is much like its old one that it lost in the battle. Some think that that was Twilis's body it was using before. Peach, your part in this mess is who you are. You will learn who you are on this mission as you use your fire powers to fight the Daybreaker." Eldstar explained.

"That explains Brighton's limp. Wait, my fire powers?" Peach questioned.

"You are one of the Celestial Guardians, Peach. You will learn more about your self on this mission, as not even I know much about the celestial guardians." Eldstar said.

"We go to Nimbus land first." Luigi decided, "Mallow will help us."

The words had barely left his mouth when the ground revolted around them.

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Daisy looked up as Geno entered the room.

"What?" She asked, "You do know that Luigi is going to come here and destroy you all!"

"Daisy, we are on the same side, here." Geno said.

Geno was using his doll body, and Daisy found out why a minute later. Waluigi walked in, but it was not Waluigi at the same time. It was Waluigi's body, but not his spirit. He wore the black overalls, but his shirt was gray. His shoes were gray, and his eyes were solid black, with red irises.

"Move it." Waluigi said, flicking his wrist. Geno was sent flying to crash into the wall. He lay there, momentarily stunned. Waluigi's voice was deeper, and harsher.

"Now that I got rid of that problem, my Flora, I have a proposition to make for you. I want you to be my queen, and rule the universe along side me!" Waluigi said.

"Unfortunately, I have to decline. I am not Flora like you seam to think, and my man is coming for me!" Daisy snapped back.

"You mean you don't remember? Geno, open the cage." Waluigi ordered.

Geno bristled, but did what he was told. He locked eyes with Daisy, and promised himself that he would help save her. Waluigi placed his hands on ether side of Daisy's head, and they glowed purple. Daisy screamed, and saw a long ago battle. She saw a winged brown haired woman in a long yellow robe standing next to what looked like dark Twilis. She saw herself bending earth to her will, and fighting a sun.

"That was us in our glory, fighting the armies of the Overlord Solarton. That was my old body." Waluigi explained, "I will give you time to let it sink in." He threw her back into the cell, and slammed the door, locking it.

"No, that can't be me! I am not the enemy, am I?" Daisy wondered.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of a battle, and looked through the bars to see Geno, wand glowing, fighting Waluigi. He was egging him on, trying to reach the real Waluigi somewhere inside the Daybreakers body.

"Wally, I was you at one time! Come on! You can do better then that! The Wally I know could never resist a fight! I challenge you, Waluigi! Wake up and fight! Geno Beam!" White light shot out of the wand and sent the Daybreaker sprawling, "Aw, have we lost our touch?"

"I am going to yank out your stuffing, you little shrooming doll!" Waluigi lunged, but the smaller starlet sidestepped the hit with ease,

"now, now, no swearing in front of the lady. She is a princess, remember?" Geno taunted.

His response was a blast of metal in the face. The last thing he saw was Waluigi advancing slowly toward him, with a sneering grin on his face, saw the glowing metal hand, and darkness fell over him like a blanket.

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Dr. Toadala entered the O.R, and checked over several monitors.

"Well?" Twila asked, feeling slightly refreshed as she had slept for a few hours in the waiting room.

"I am afraid I have bad news. Brighton's body is rejecting the liver. We can't do another transplant. It is simply not feasible. Brighton is losing the battle. Twila, I need your decision. Do we let him go, or do we hook him up to life support and keep him alive by artificial means?" Dr. Toadala asked.

Twila closed her eyes as if she were in pain.

"You don't know Brighton, doc. He'll pull through." Twila said.

"Twila, not this time. The liver is dying, and as it dies, it releases poisons into the bloodstream. I am seeing signs of organ death in his other organs. He is not going to make it." Dr. Toadala said, "Decision?"

Twila's mind flashed back to the Daybreak wars, and she remembered Brighton telling her to not to try to keep him alive by artificial means. She had signed a paper promising to honor his wish.

"I need time to think, and I want to be alone with him." Twila said.

"I will give you five minutes with him, then I need to come in here to act according to your decision." Dr, Toadala stepped outside.

'_Brighton, can you hear me?' _She asked mentally.

'_I heard everything, Twila. You know full well what I want. If they say I am as good as dead, then do it._' Brighton answered.

'_But Brighton! I can't lose you! You are my husband, and I love you! Where is the fighter I love?_' Twila asked.

'_I was young during those days. I am no longer young, Twila. I have grown old. My old fighting spirit is gone._' Brighton answered.

Twila was about to respond, when a machine flat-lined. Dr. Toadala ran into the room, and hit the com.

"We have a code blue! Code Blue!" He yelled.

Twila moved outside the O.R, and watched a team of Doctors go rushing into the O.R. Fear filled her heart. She paced from nervousness, and finally sat down, staring down the clock.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Queen Sunstar: Triple cliffhanger mania! Until next week, my loyal readers!**

**Twila: You are going to end there? that's three cliffhangers! Oh, and don't forget to review, now!**


	6. Escape

**Twila: Queen Sunstar owns nothing regarding the Mario Brothers. She owns only her own characters, and I am not going to read the list this time. To see the list, go to chapter five, and read the disclaimer there.**

**Queen Sunstar: I have a feeling this story is going to be my longest one yet. The Graphics Warning is still in effect. Onward to the story!**

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Twila found herself standing outside the O.R doors, and heard everything going on inside.

"Somebody start a central line!" Dr. Toadala called, "And get Dr. Luka's backside in here!"

"We can't! Luka is in the ER with another patient!" one of the two interns answered.

"I don't care if Luka is busy! Tell him if he doesn't get his but in here within the next two minutes, I'll tell the boss, Dr. Ross, on him! Is that central line in yet?" Dr. Toadala screamed.

"I'm in!" the intern, Dr. Cameron, called.

"Doc, I am having trouble intubating him!" the other intern, Dr. Gray, called.

At that moment, Dr. Luka ran into the O.R.

"What happened?" He called.

"Code Blue!" Dr. Toadala screamed.

"Paddles?" Dr. Gray asked.

"Not yet! I'm in! Somebody start bagging him! Luka, you are a dead Koopa Troopa later!" Toadala screamed.

"Lets see what is going on. BP is dropping, I'm losing sinus rhythm! Cameron, start chest compressions! Toadala, stand by with the paddles!" Luka screamed.

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The ground revolted around them. Wario dropped to the ground, and put his hand out. His hand burned yellow, and the yellow light seeped down into the ground. Near by, Solance did the same thing. Within seconds, the earthquake stopped. They followed Eldstar to Brightons office, a few doors down the hall. The TV was on.

"My name is Kisa Jones, and I am reporting live in front of Mount Nimbus, which, two minutes ago, showed an increase in seismic activity. Volcanologists are converging in the Nimbus Land Volcano Observatory, and so far, no word on what is going on." the pink shelled female Nokis on TV said.

"We have better to get moving!" Luigi said.

"I'll save you a trip." Eldstar said, glowing. He orbed them to Nimbus Land, and sat back to keep an eye on the TV.

Luigi lead the way into the castle.

"Mallow?" He called.

"Luigi?" Mallow answered, materializing right behind the green clad plumber, causing him to jump five feet into the air. Luigi turned. Mallow was much taller then the last time he had seen him.

"Mallow! Long time no see. You know Wario and Peach, and this is Solance. He is Earths secondary sun." Luigi said.

"Its good to see you too, Luigi. I heard the news about Brighton. Is he going to be okay?" Mallow asked.

"Brighton is doing as well as can be expected." Solance answered, staying in the back of the group, "We have bigger things to worry about. Geno is on the dark side, working for the Daybreaker."

"What? Geno? Dark? How'd this happen? Where were we?" Mallow squawked.

"Calm down, Mallow. We are still trying to figure that one out." Wario said.

"Geno can't go dark!" Mallow cried, "Come!" He lead them into the library, and pulled down an ancient looking leather book. Its title read _Ancient Prophecies_. Mallow open the book, and found the page he was looking for. They all leaned in to read.

_On the day the hero turned starlet goes dark, and the Great Lord fights for his life, a 5000 year old soul reclaims its former body. This will set in motion, the events leading to the universes most deadly battle yet, the battle between Celestial Guardian and Elemental Brother. When all hope seems lost, look for the great life giver among your ranks._

"Celestial Guardian against Elemental Brother… I am a Celestial Guardian, Wario, Luigi, you two are Elemental Brothers!" Peach cried out.

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Geno felt consciousness returning.

'_I'm not dead?_' Geno thought, opening his eyes. He looked around, noticing he was in the same cell as Daisy. He went to sit up, and cried out sharply from the agonizing spasms racking his body.

"Geno, You woke up!" Daisy said, coming into his line of vision, "Don't try to move around so much. He gave you a nasty beating out there. It looks like he busted some of your ribs, and your left shoulder was dislocated. I've patched you up as best as I can."

"I'm okay, I've been through worse." With a groan of pain, Geno forced himself to sit up. Daisy would have none of it, and pushed him back down.

"Let your body heal up some, Geno. You won't do anybody any good if you faint from pain." Daisy said, concern in her voice. Geno kicked himself mentally for not agreeing to have Peach teach him health magic, and let Daisy have her way but staying down.

"Alright, I'll rest." Geno stared up at the ceiling.

"Geno, the Daybreaker says I am a Celestial Guardian, but what did he mean?" Daisy asked some time later.

"A Celestial Guardian is one who protects the Celestials, like Brighton, and Twila. There were four of them. There was Pyronia, user of fire, Guardian of the Sun, Aqueena, user of water, Guardian of the Moon, Flora, user of Earth energy, Guardian of the Earth, and Thundrina, user of electricity, Guardian of the sky. They promised to protect the Celestials from harm. Then the Daybreaker came. He killed three of them, and took Flora, turning her evil. Then came the war. The Daybreaker was defeated, and Flora was stripped of her powers, and banished. She came back to warn them some time later, but was killed on sight. History is about to replay itself, starting with me. I go dark, and Brighton battles for his life." Geno explained, "I am a double agent working for Brighton."

"Why did Flora come back?" Daisy asked.

"She saw something terrible about to happen." Geno said.

"Do you know what she saw?" Daisy asked, fearing the answer.

"She saw Belmoth, the ninth Star Spirit, consuming a planet, and its dead sun floating near by. She saw Belmoth reanimate the Sun, and turned it into a killer. It was Solan, brother of Solaris, Brightons father." Geno said.

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Inside the O.R, Brighton continued to battle for his life. Little did they know, the tide was turning in his favor.

"We don't need the paddles!" Luka called.

"Are you insane? The guys got no pulse! You said so yourself!" Toadala screamed back, charging the paddles as he spoke.

"Cameron, keep up with the chest compressions, you are doing fine. Toadala, I said I had no sinus rhythm! Learn to listen, will ya?" Luka shot back.

"Hello, Beginning Medical Science I! No sinus rhythm means no pulse!" Toadala yelled back.

"Beginning Medical Science I, the heart will still pump blood without being regulated by the sinoatrial node!" Luka screamed.

"Both of you, shut up! Just shut up! For once, can't you two put your deference's aside and focus on saving a life? Gray cried.

"I say we paddle the sinus rhythm back!" Toadala ignored her.

"I rank higher then you, and I say we let Cameron work!" Luka shot back.

"Wait until I tell Ross that you do fought each other in the O.R, over your own rulers body, instead of fighting to save his life, which I have been doing!" Cameron screamed.

At that moment, Dr. Ross, a large male green winged Yoshi, walked in.

"Alright! I have had it with the two of you! You both are on clinic duty until further notice! Go!" Ross ordered, his voice firm. Luka and Toadala cringed, and finally stopped yelling at each other. Toadala went quietly, while Luka turned to his boss.

"He is my patient, Boss!" Luka cried.

"Go!" Ross ordered again. Luka left.

Ross walked over to the operating table, "What do we have here? Hmm, no sinus rhythm, being kept alive by Cameron, Gray, come here with the paddles. Ready? Clear!" Ross called, working quickly.

Twila watched the two doctors leave after the yoshi walked in. She felt worried, and started pacing without realizing it.

"Brighton is doing fine, I'm sure of it." Eleanor said, watching Twila pace.

"I can't help it. I pace went I get nervous." Twila admitted.

Greg came in.

"Twila, two things. Everybody at Clockwork Castle is praying for His Grace to pull through, and the Parliament called. They want you, now." Greg said.

"It can't wait?" Twila asked.

"They said it was of utmost importance that you came. Greg said.

"Twila, Bowser and I will stay right here with Brighton. Yoshi and DK too." Eleanor said. Bowser, DK, and yoshi nodded. Visiting hours had ended five minutes ago, so they couldn't visit Mario until eight the next morning. The ICU allowed visitors around the clock under special circumstances, such as a family member being kept in the O.R, instead of one of the ICU rooms.

"Promise me you will call me if anything happens." Twila said, following Greg out to the car.

"I promise!" Eleanor called.

Twila settled herself in the back of the Skylord, Brightons golden Lexus SUV. Her own car was sitting inside her shop, waiting for her to give it its annual tune up. One of her favorite past times was working on her beloved car when ever she got the chance. She also handled repairs on the Go-Karts during the off season of Mariokart. Greg pulled into the parking lot outside the Parliament buildings. Twila climbed out of the car, and walked toward the main building, pausing long enough at the door to check her complexion in her handheld mirror. She walked inside, and entered the main meeting room.

The room was broken up into three sections, one section per house. The house of the Sun, the smallest of the three houses, had the middle section, with the House of the Moon on the right, and the House of the Sky on its left. Brightstar, head of the House of the Sky, stood in front of his section. Twila took her place as Head of the House of the Moon. The House of the Sun had 35 members, five from each region of Skyland. The House of the Sky had 135 members, and was known as the peoples house, while the House of the Moon, the newest addition, had 100 members, two from each district. (**For further detail, check out _Brotherhood_, CH 10.**)

"As much I hate to state da oblivious, who going to cover for Brighton?" Brightstar asked, getting shushed by his own house members. Lady Flame walked in, and stood before the House of the Sun. She was fighting to suppress a yawn.

"Now just a moment! The Degree states very clearly that if the Great Lord is out of commission, his Moon is to cover for him!" a house of the moon member cried.

"True," Twila walked over to Lady Flame, "The Moon has the right to pass it on to someone else. I choose Lady Flame."

"Then it falls to the head of the House of the Sky!" a house of the sky member called.

"That true, if da Moon wish it so." Brightstar said.

"You two sure about this? I've been awake for nearly 35 hours." Lady Flame said, her voice slightly slurred from exhaustion.

"Wait minute, who covered for Brighton after he injured?" Brightstar asked.

"I did." Lady Flame said, "Then I did Solances turn."

"Who shining now?" Brightstar asked.

"I thought you were." Lady Flame said.

"But if I here, then who shining?" Brightstar asked.

"Yea, Brightstar." Twila said.

Brightstar paled, and ran to the window. He looked up, and saw Lord Sunnings, Solartons second in command, working in the sky.

"Its da little boss!" Brightstar called, relief in his richly accented voice.

"That's right, Lord Sunnings took over for me, and told me to go get some sleep." Lady Flame said.

"With that settled, Why were we called together?" Twila asked.

Her answer came in the form of a giant TV screen, once they had taken their places. The screen flickered a few times, and came on. It showed the Nimbus Land volcano, and a Nokis reporter stepped in front of the screen.

"I'm Kisa Jones, and I'm reporting live in front of Mount Nimbus! This just came in! a few hours ago, there was a spike in seismic activity. Volcanologists swarmed to the Observatory, and we have a report from the leading Volcanologist, Dr. Serenin T! Here she is!" Kisa said.

A toadette appeared on screen. She wore a brown coverall, and heavy brown gloves. Her hat was periwinkle blue with a picture of a sun on top, showing she was from Skyland. She wore her light brown hair back in a pony tail. Her work boots were black.

"Mount Nimbus is one of the last surviving Megacones. A Megacone is a volcano with a large crater, and even, sloping sides. Mount Nimbus's last recorded eruption was 4000 years ago. These earthquakes originated right here, on the southern lip, facing Skyland. I don't think we will see an actual eruption, but we may see several small scale sneezes. That's all we know for now." Serenin T said.

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Mallow switched off the TV, and turned to the others.

"Mallow, is it possible to go down to where the Blade Ship crashed, and investigate it?" Luigi asked.

"I'm afraid I can't allow it. It is simply too dangerous." Mallow said, "The ground is too unstable."

"Wario and I have mastered the Earthhand. If we work together, we should be able to keep it stable long enough for you three to go investigate." Solance said.

"Its risky, but this has to be done. This is a map of the volcano. The quakes happened here, so we will need Solance here on the lower ledge, and Wario here, we will put on the lip of the volcano. That should keep things calm." Mallow pointed out the two ledges.

"I have to climb up an entire mountain?" Wario asked.

"Who said anything about climbing? I'll warp us to our places." Solance said.

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Waluigi was trapped. The place he was in was dark, and he seemed to be floating. He could hear the Daybreaker in his mind.

"_Waluigi, I thought you'd actually fight for your body, such a disappointment._" the Daybreaker sneered.

"_You may have my body, but you will never break my spirit! Wario will be sure of that! I know my brothers are coming!_" Waluigi screamed.

"_Tsk, tsk, tsk, can they fight their own brother?_" the Daybreaker asked, his voice sounding identical to Waluigi's voice for two seconds.

"_You won't fool Wario, or Luigi! They will know its not me!_" Waluigi screamed.

"_Unfortunately, your father holds the key to defeat me. By defeating me, he will have to waste his own child. I took care of him first. No one else can use it but him. Hence, I am unstoppable!_" The Daybreaker sneered.

"_I know one other person who can use the key, and I know what the key is! He won't hesitate to waste me!_" Waluigi tried.

"_Do you mean Bri, or Sol? They are both dead, remember?_" the Daybreaker answered.

"_I was talking about Eldstar!_" Waluigi cried, forming a plan in his subconscious mind.

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Dr. Ross finally left the O.R. Eleanor rose to meet him.

"How is he?" She asked.

"Its not good. Brighton is stable for now. He is critically ill. His body is trying to fight off a mammoth infection in the bloodstream. I detected early organ death in several of his other organs, and its just not looking good right now." Ross said.

"Chances of overcoming this?" Eleanor pressed. Bowser and DK leaned in to listen. Yoshi snoozed on, unaware of what's going on.

"I would give him roughly a 25 chance of overcoming this." Ross explained, "I have doctors to fire, and patients to save." the doctor left. Eleanor walked back into the O.R, with Bowser right behind her.

"Hon?" Bowser questioned, nerved by his wife's reactions.

"Bow, what am I going to do? How do you tell someone that there is virtually no chance to save a loved one?" Eleanor asked, trying to hold back tears.

"Oh, Eleanor, its okay. Look at it this way. Brighton has one chance in four to survive this. These are small numbers." Bowser said.

"When you put it that way, it seems small, but 25 is not a big number, compared to 75. What do I tell Twila?" Eleanor asked.

"Tell her that its just not looking good right now." Bowser suggested.

"I'll do that." Eleanor said.

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Geno's body still hurt badly. He raised his head slowly. Where was Daisy? He tried to sit up, but he hurt to bad to move.

'_Why didn't I agree to learn a heal spell? Mallow had Healing Rain, Bowser had Lave Restoration, Peach had Therapy, Group Hug, and Comeback, and Mario had Healing Fire. I had nothing. I am such an imbecile._' Geno gave himself another kick mentally.

Someone screamed. Geno forced his protesting body to move. He crawled to the door, and pulled himself up to stand on shaky legs. Looking out, he saw Daisy, her back up against the wall. The Daybreaker was in front of her.

"You will never get me to go evil! I won't do it!" Daisy shrieked, fighting desperately to get away from the Daybreaker, who held her in place with his magnetic power.

"Flora, you still fight the evil already in you. You have no choice, my queen." the Daybreaker snarled.

"Waluigi! Its your body! Fight for it!" Daisy tried.

"Waluigi is gone. He gave up his own body willingly." the Daybreaker taunted.

"hey jerk butt! Over here!" Geno quickly calculated his plan, and transformed into a cannon. "Geno!" He waited for the cell door to open, ignoring his protesting muscles. The door opened, "Flash!"

"Shroot." the Daybreaker was blasted backward into the cell behind him, by an exploding mini sun. Geno quickly changed back, and Daisy slammed the cell door closed, and locked it.

"Us, 1, Daybreaker, 0." She said, turning to Geno, "Lets go while the guy is out cold!"

"Follow me!" Geno led the way.

Behind them, five minutes after they had left, the cell door on the cell containing the Daybreaker exploded off its hinges. The Daybreaker walked out slowly, and methodically turned right, toward the door.

Geno finally stopped running, and sank against the wall, breathing heavily. Daisy watched him worriedly.

"You don't know any healing spells, right?" Geno asked, feeling his body protest against his every move.

"I didn't learn magic, sorry." Daisy said, "We have to keep moving!"

"I know!" With a groan of effort, Geno rose back up to his feet, and ran again. They didn't get very far. Luminosity stepped right in front of them.

"Well, well, well, if it ain't the traitor and the little wretch trying to escape, are we?" Luminosity's hands glowed crimson. Geno acted fast.

"Geno Whirl!" He cried, blasting the female sun backward against the wall, "I don't have time for this! Daisy, lets- gah!" Geno felt his body lift up into the air, and come crashing back down to land with a bone jarring thud on the ground. He looked up to see both the Daybreaker, and Luminosity glaring down at him.

"Oh no…" Geno muttered, bracing himself for an attack he knew was coming.

"Leave him alone!" Daisy screamed, glowing brightly. White light wrapped around her. When the light died down, Daisy had changed. her hair was longer, and her dress changed. The skirt, no longer poofy, had become straight, and a slit revealed a golden heeled boot. She still had her long white gloves, but they were trimmed in gold. A pair of glossy white wings glittered on her back.

"Flora…" Geno gasped.

"Luminosity, take care of her." the Daybreaker ordered.

"I'll take care of you! Earth Guardian Blast!" Daisy screamed, blasting both the sun and the Daybreaker up against a wall. She went to Geno, and healed him. Geno stood, and raised both arms to the sky.

"Try a taste of my Geno Flash!" He cried. Rainbow light crashed down to hit the Daybreaker and Luminosity.

"Lets go!" Daisy cried, running.

"I'm right behind you!" Geno called, as the two burst outside, where the Blade waited with a fully charged Breaker Beam. Geno saw the deadly blue light, and transformed into a cannon.

"Geno Flash!" He cried, crimson and gold light erupting from inside the cannon to crash into the breaker beam light. Daisy raised her arms.

"Earth Guardian Blast!" She screamed, adding more golden light to the mix. Their combined might struck the Breaker Cannon, and demolished it. The Blade ship screamed.

"I have been hit. Must land for repair." the Blade screamed.

Daisy grabbed Geno right after he finished switching back from cannon mode, and jumped off the ship, her wings stroking the air.

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**Queen Sunstar: I am going to stop here. Two things, Brain cramp, and wrist cramp. I will update on Mondays for this story, and Wednesdays for Starry Nightmare.**

**Twila: Don't forget to leave a review, now! **


	7. Brightons Reawakening

**Queen Sunstar: Sorry for the short chapter. I didn't have much time to type this week. This chapter is done in Brightons point of view. **

**Twila: Nintendo owns everything but Queen Sunstars characters. See Ch. 5 for complete list.**

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Pain filled every part of my body. I was awake in a sense, yet I still slept on. My eyes remained closed, yet I could hear everything going on.

'_You know what I want, Twila._' I spoke telepathically to her. A sun is linked mentally to his moon. My chest throbbed agonizingly, and a warm darkness consumed me.

I was floating in a ball of white light. For a minute, I wondered if I were in SA. (**Brotherhood, CH. 7**) a few minutes later, I realized I was inside a cavern. I looked around. Luigi lay to my right, unconscious. Solance was on my left, laying in a small puddle of blood. His eyes were open, and I knew he was alive by the slight movement of his chest. I didn't see Wario, and Peach. I felt the familiar weight of my Sunstone around my neck.

"Luigi? Solance?" I tried, wondering if they would be able to hear me. I had dream traveled before, to Luigi. (**Brotherhood, CH. 7**)

Luigi jerked once, and groaned.

"Dad?" he asked, "Am I dead?"

"No. I think you are dreaming. What happened?" I asked, floating over to the youngest of my four sons.

"I think the volcano erupted. I got trapped on an edge, and Solance warped to me to save me, but the ledge broke. I was falling, and I felt myself trying to go solar." Luigi whispered.

It was then that I saw the rock trapping him. The cavern rumbled, and Solance gasped sharply.

'_I have got to help them, but how?_' I remembered the Sunstone I was wearing around my neck.

"Luigi, I am going to give you my Sunstone. It helped you before, and maybe it will help you now." I handed it over to him. The roof cracked. Listening with my heightened sense of hearing, I could hear Warios voice, arguing with someone.

"I don't care if I could cause the whole cave to fall in! Green bean is down there!" Wario cried.

"Wario, I know you are worried about Luigi, but we need to wait. Help is coming!" Mallow reasoned.

"But green bean…" Wario trailed off.

I suppressed a chuckle. Wario and Luigi had definitely bonded during the last quest.

"We have to wait, okay?" Mallow spoke again.

"Guys! Move it or lose it!" Peach screamed suddenly.

I turned around to see Luigi glowing. He was trying to go solar. My Sunstone began to glow in response, and Luigi changed, reverting to his solar form, Brightsun. He flamed out of his trap, and went to Solances side. That was the last I saw, as darkness fell over me again. Once again, I drifted at the edges of sleep and being awake. Then I sensed another presence.

"Waluigi?" I called out.

"Dad?" Waluigi answered, "What are you doing in my mind?"

"Where are you exactly?" I ignored the question.

"This is creepy! I'm talking to my own father in my mind! Lets see, hmm, I'm inside my body?" Waluigi was being sarcastic.

"Waluigi!" My mental voice adopted a sharp edge, "cut the attitude! You must be asleep, as I am dream traveling from person to person."

"Sorry. My body is at the beck and call of the Daybreaker. I'm just a disembodied soul, trying to figure out away to take back my body." Waluigi answered, "You can dream travel? I thought only Sandstone, the Dreamspeaker, could do that."

"My mother taught me how to dream travel to help me deal with severe night terrors when I was young. Waluigi, I have suspected this for quite some time, but what you just said confirms it. You are the reincarnation of Twilis, the half blood. He was the original Daybreaker. His soul has overtaken you." I explained.

"What? What are they giving you for pain, morphine? That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!" Waluigi cried, "get outta my mind!"

"It's true, Waluigi." I felt him blocking me, "Fine, be that way."

As I faded, I heard him call out, "Its really true?"

"Yes." Darkness reclaimed me, and once again, I found myself in the wonderful borderland between sleep, and wakefulness. The next thing that happened, was boredom. How do people who stay in comas for years do it? I felt as if my mind was rotting. How long has it been now, two, three days? I quickly gave up trying to figure that one out. I decided to think about the attack instead. I recalled that it was close to noon, or was it more one in the afternoon? When I had heard something on my right, or was it my left? And turned to hit, only to get hit head on in the chest. I remembered Solarton screaming, and where had he come from? Then darkness. I found myself drifting again, and met up with Geno, who looked like he had been through war.

"About time you showed up, boss." He said.

"What happened to you? The plan was to go undercover and relay information about the Daybreaker at twenty-four hour intervals, not escape with Daisy." I said.

"Plans change. If I stayed, the Daybreaker was going to kill me." Geno said.

"Geno, this also creates a new problem. The Daybreaker is going to replace you, and he'll want someone powerful, like Solarton, or Eldstar." I said.

"Lets see, he already has a sun, and if his plan is what I think it is, he'll go for a moon, like Twila." Geno said.

"This does change things. How far from civilization are you?" I asked.

"Daisy has discovered her guardian powers and can become Flora at will, and according to her, we are in the middle of nowhere." Geno said.

"Luigi's team is indisposed, Waluigi is possessed by the Daybreaker, and I'm in a coma. Geno, its up to you." I said.

"Actually, Its up to you, boss. You have to wake up." Geno said.

"Its drug induced, so I can't wake up." I said.

"Then you'll have to lose Twila." Geno said, knowing he was hitting a very raw nerve.

"How do you wake up from a drug induced coma, Geno?" I snapped back.

"You say you have been dream traveling, right? Dream travel back to your body." Geno said.

"What?" I tried.

"Don't you get it? You can't dream travel through a drugged haze. This is a natural coma. You can wake up. You have been dream traveling to every body else's mind, but your own. If you go back to your own mind, you'll wake up." Geno explained calmly.

"You could be right." I faded back into the darkness, and returned to the borderland between sleep and wakefulness.

'_Okay, self. Time to wake up. Come on, wake up. Why aren't you waking up? Wake up! Come on, wake up, wake up, wake up! Okay, this isn't working._' I thought at myself.

Then it was like a weight had been lifted from my eyes. I became aware of something hard and plastic in my mouth.

'_Oh great. They intubated me. This complicates things. Oh well, I'll go telepathic._' I thought.

I opened my eyes, and was greeted by a new darkness. This darkness was different. I knew at once that I was awake. The darkness lightened as my damaged optical nerve began to function at its usual 28 percent. The darkness was replaced by a thick white film, my normal eyesight. I can see very little, but I make up for it with my heightened sense of hearing.

"Twila, the doctors say it doesn't look- Twila, he just woke up." Eleanor's voice rose a few octaves as she finished her sentence.

'_Eleanor, tell Twila she is in danger. Daybreaker._' I thought out.

"Twila, they have a breathing tube in his mouth, so he can't talk. He just spoke telepathically. He said that you are in danger, Daybreaker. No, I haven't- Twila? Twila!" Eleanor turned to me, "Darn cell phone tower dropped the call." She stepped outside, and spoke to Bowser. He and DK got up, and left. She came back in followed by Yoshi, and a Toad doctor.

"Good to see that you finally decided to return to the land of the living, Brighton. My name is Dr, Toadala, and I'm your doctor. What is your pain level?" He held up a chart.

'_I'm fine, no pain._' I chose to speak telepathically. The doctor jumped a mile.

"I forgot to mention, Brighton is telepathic. Just talk like you normally would, and he'll answer you, with his mind." Eleanor said.

"Okay, you will be in here for a while. It is not looking good for you right now. We had to remove your liver, and we gave you a part of Mario's liver, but there is so much toxic waste in your blood, that it is starting to die. You are simply too ill to undergo another transplant." the Toad sounded sad.

'_You don't know me, doc. I'll pull through. This is nothing compared to what I've endured before._' I answered.

"Look like we have fighter on our hand." Yoshi said, speaking in his fractured English.

"Do I have to spell it out for you? Dead liver dead body." Dr. Toadala said.

'_Then I'll have to be the first to survive this. I am not leaving this world without a fight. If King Boo wants me, he'll have to do war to get me._' I said.

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**Queen Sunstar: I'll end it here for this week. This chapter is important in plot development. Until next time.**

**Twila: Yay! Brighton woke up! Oh and don't forget to leave a review, now!**


	8. Twila's capture, and Escape

**Queen Sunstar: Chapter eight is here! Enjoy!**

**Twila: Queen Sunstar doesn't own me, Brighton, or anyone else in her stories except her own characters like Solance, and Lady Flame. **

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Wario and Solance put their right hands down on the mountain, activating their Earthbrands. Yellow light seeped into the mountain, calming it down. Luigi worked his way around the base of the mountain, searching for the remains of the Blade. He switched to solar mode, and hovered. In Brightsun form, Luigi could levitate, use Thunderhand, and bend electricity to his will. He dove low to skim along a ledge, and heard the sound of Mallows cloud, Mel, behind him.

"Anything, Brightsun?" Mallow called.

"Nothing. I think Geno may have done something to hide it, or lied about it." Brightsun called over his shoulder, flaming through a rock. He heard Mallow crash into the rock.

"I'm okay! Mel, how about you?" Mallow was answered by a squeak, "Good. Lets get moving."

"Wait, are there any cave systems on Mount Nimbus?" Brightsun landed gracefully on a ledge.

"Mount Nimbus is a Volcano. Volcanoes have extensive cave systems, so yes." Mallow said, guiding Mel into a landing.

"Could it have somehow landed inside a cave?" Brightsun asked.

"No, it is way too big, and it would take at least 8 million years to do what you are thinking of next." Mallow retorted.

"It did crash. We are standing on its crash site. It hit the ledge up there, and rolled to a stop down here. Mario said that Geno found no survivors, yet he looked like he had been through war." Brightsun entered the cavern, Mallow right behind him. His cell phone rang. Peach had stayed behind to research more into the celestial guardian concept.

"Yes?" Brightsun stopped and answered his phone.

"This is Peach. Wario called. He said that the pressure is rising inside the volcano, and that he and Solance can't hold on much longer." Peach said.

"Tell them to give me five more minutes. Mallow, you go wait outside." Brightsun said.

"Luigi, get out of there, now!" Peach ordered.

"I am in Brightsun form, and I can flame out if necessary. Mallow, go!" Brightsun reasoned.

Mallow left, looking dejected.

"Just be careful. Promise me you will flame out if anything happens." Peach said.

"I promise." Brightsun closed the phone, and walked further into the cavern. He formed a green fireball in his hand, and lit up the cavern. What he saw took his breath away. Many pictures covered the walls. As he walked, he saw the story of the Daybreaker unfold around him.

The first picture showed a dark shadow, and Twilis standing nearby. The next few scenes showed Twilis fighting the darkness. It looked like he was winning, until the black shadow entered his body.

"The Demon would have to be invited by him into his body." Brightsun mused, reexamining the pictures. In the corner of the picture of Twilis with the shadow entering his body, Brightsun made out a single eye.

"Something made Twilis accept the shadow, but what?" Brightsun wondered, going to the next segment of pictures. These showed a terrible battle raging, and the woman in yellow standing next to the Daybreaker in one of the pictures looked like Daisy. He watched as the Daybreakers body was destroyed, and his jaw dropped. He recognized the Sun holding the sword in the picture.

"Brighton vanquished the Daybreaker? This battle must have been recent." He read the date, and nearly choked.

"It happened 5000 years ago? There is no way that's Brighton." He mused, remembering Eldstars story. He moved on to the next segment of pictures. He saw the shadow take Geno and Luminosity, and turn them evil. He moved on to see Geno break through the spell, and meet up with Brighton. Geno went back to the Blade, and Brightsun saw Sol and Bri die fighting, taking Smithy with them, and later, the Blade destroyed Snifit three. Then he came up to the last picture, with showed the eye. The eye looked human, but the pupil was a slit. Brightsun turned and walked back, reverting back to human form as he walked. He walked up to the ledge, and felt the ground quake violently. Solance warped to him, as the ledge crumbled away in the earthquake. Luigi felt himself trying to go solar, and felt a sudden blast of pain on his legs. He looked up to see falling rocks, and everything went black.

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Daisy landed in a meadow. She reverted back to normal, breathing heavily. Geno looked around, and racked his brains on where they were.

"Where are we?" Daisy asked.

"I don't know. What did you feel before you transformed?" Geno asked.

"I don't remember." Daisy stood, "Which way?"

"Lets head to the forest, that way." Geno said, taking the lead.

The pair walked in silence. Daisy thought about her transformation, while Geno thought of the life he had left behind at Eldstars Haven, to go work undercover for Brighton. The forest drew closer, and it was Daisy who figured out where they were.

"That's Forever Forest, which means we are in Ladila Plains. We should be able to find Luigi's Mansion, and use the pipe there to get to Mushroom Kingdom. From there, we can go over to the pipe house, and warp back to Skyland." Daisy said.

"Ladila Plains?" Geno paled.

"What?" Daisy asked.

"Ladila Plains is known for its rolling hills! Start running, and don't look back!" Geno screamed.

"Rolling hills?" Daisy asked, still lost.

"Do I have to spell it out for you? The land is always changing here! Sometimes the land will roll, forming a hill that moves!" Geno screamed, "Get moving!"

"You mean, like that thunder I have been hearing, caused by that hill that's speeding right toward us? Run!" Daisy ran with Geno right behind her. The hill bore down on them, and swept them up into the air. Geno closed his eyes, not wanting to look at where he was being carried to. He couldn't hear a thing except the roaring noise as the plains shifted around. Suddenly, everything stopped moving. Silence filled the air. Geno cracked open an eye, and looked around. He was at the edge of Forever Forest.

"Daisy?" He called out, standing up.

"Geno?" Daisy called back, "Where are you?"

"I'm on the edge of the forest!" Geno called, "You?"

"I see you, stay where you are!" Daisy joined him, in Flora form, "I panicked, and transformed. I hovered over the plains during the earthquake."

"You could have at least saved me from the horror of riding out a plains quake!" Geno replied, entering the forest, "Daisy, lead the way."

It was dark out when they stopped in a clearing for the night. Geno watched Daisy sleep, and got up to walk into the woods. He sat on a log, closed his eyes, and waited.

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Luigi felt a warm glow, and opened his eyes. He knew at once that he was dreaming, as Brighton, looking like he had never been hurt, walked over to him.

"Luigi, Solance?" Brighton called out.

"Dad?" Luigi asked, "Am I dead?"

Luigi tried to move, but found that he was pinned down by the rock.

"No, I think you are dreaming. What happened?" Brighton asked, concern in his voice. Luigi noticed that Brighton was floating.

"I think the volcano erupted. I got trapped on an edge, and Solance warped to me to save me, but the ledge broke. I was falling, and I felt myself trying to go solar." Luigi whispered, groaning as he felt the rock shift. Brighton seemed to be thinking.

"Luigi, I am going to give you my Sunstone. It helped you before, and maybe it will help you now." Brighton looked up at the roof of the cave, obliviously hearing something with his heightened sense of hearing. He handed over the Sunstone to Luigi, and faded out as Luigi went solar. Luigi reverted to Brightsun form, and flamed out. He went to Solance, who had a gash over his right eye, and blood had ran from the gash to pool under him. He touched him, and flamed outside. His legs refused to support him and, and he had the sensation of devolving as darkness fell over him again.

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Geno felt like he had been waiting forever, when the surrounding woods lit up in a soft golden glow.

"About time you showed up, boss." Geno said.

"What happened to you? The plan was to go undercover and relay information about the Daybreaker at twenty-four hour intervals, not escape with Daisy." Brighton said.

"Plans change. If I stayed, the Daybreaker would have killed me." Geno said.

"Geno, this also creates a new problem. The Daybreaker is going to replace you, and he'll want someone powerful, like Solarton, or Eldstar." Brighton said.

"Lets see, he already has a sun, and if his plan is what I think it is, he'll go for a moon, like Twila." Geno said.

He talked with Brighton for a little while longer, and told him to wake up. After Brighton faded from view, Geno stood up, and walked over to the still sleeping Daisy.

"I can see what Luigi sees in her. Where he lacks in courage, she gives him hope." Geno laid down, looking up at the stars, "Luigi, I'll do everything in my power to bring her back to you." Geno fell asleep.

Daisy woke as sunlight filtered through the trees. She looked up at the Sun, and recognized it as Brightstar, Brightons younger brother. She got up, finding the Geno was already awake.

"You are up early." She said.

"Light sleeper, woke when the sunlight hit my face." Geno said, "I already found breakfast." He pointed to the pile of raspberries next to him.

After eating a quick meal of the berries, the two set off. They came up to the Mansion around late afternoon, and Daisy found the spare key hidden in the flowerpot next to the door. She left Geno, who went to explore, and went up to the master bedroom. She breathed in the still lingering smell of Luigi's cologne.

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Luigi woke as the sunlight hit his face. He felt his legs throbbing has he moved. Both legs were bandaged from below the knee. He put weight down on his left leg slowly, and winced as it protested the move. His right leg was not much better off. The door opened, and Peach came in.

"Luigi, you woke up. Your legs were bruised and scraped up pretty badly. Queen Nimbus was able to deal with you on site, but she is still working on Solance." Peach said.

"Does this mean I'm stuck here for a few days?" Luigi asked.

"We are here for two weeks, while both you and Solance heal." Peach said.

Wario came in with the Queen right behind him.

"Green Bean! I was so worried!" Wario bawled.

"Its good to see that you woke up. No walking for the next two days." Queen Nimbus was carrying more gaze, tape, scissors, and an antiseptic solution in a bottle, "Time to clean and change your dressings. Solance is fine. I had a tough time getting his head to stop bleeding. It was a surface scrape." She dipped the scissors into a bowl with some of the antiseptic solution mixed with water to clean them, "We can't risk getting your scrapes infected, now can we?" She smiled, and cut away the bandage. Carefully, she peeled it back, revealing purple and red flesh underneath it.

"Wario, Oww! That stuff burns! Quit calling me Green Bean!" Luigi cried, not wanting to watch Queen Nimbus work.

"Sorry, but we are brothers, and calling you Green Bean feels so natural! Its like me calling Waluigi Stickman, and Mario, Jumpman." Wario said.

"I have to cut some dead skin off here, so hold still." Queen Nimbus said, dipping the scissors in the solution again. Luigi squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the cold, stinging sensation of the scissor blades to touch burning skin. He felt the release of pressure, and felt blood running down his leg. Then his leg got wrapped up again, and the same procedure happened to his other leg.

"There, done. Your dressings will get checked each hour." Queen Nimbus said, leaving.

"What about the mission? I don't think the Daybreaker is going to wait." Luigi said.

"Wario and I, and I still can't believe I agreed to this, are heading back to Skyland to intercept the Daybreaker. General Guy's Fly Guys saw the Blade set down near Skyland." Peach said.

"You and Solance will catch up to us after you two recover." Wario added, "I get to travel with a beautiful lady!"

"That beautiful lady is Mario's girlfriend, so keep you paws to yourself!" Peach snapped.

"Who says I can't dream?" Wario asked.

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Bowser and DK arrived at the parliament buildings. The Daybreaker arrived seconds later, and the sky went dark as Lord Sunnings intercepted him. Bowser and DK both joined the fray. Bowser breathed fire at the Daybreaker, and watched him ghost out of the way.

"You want to fight like that?" Bowser growled, going invisible. He breathed fire again, and missed as the Daybreaker ghosted out, again. The Daybreaker hit Lord Sunnings head on, causing the Sun to double over in pain.

"I'm okay! For that, eat fire! Celestial fireballs ignite!" Sunnings gasped, firing off a round of fireballs.

"Waterbrand!" the Daybreaker destroyed the attack. Brightstar, Lady Flame, and Twila came running out of the building, joining the fight. DK raised his fist, and punched at a ghosting Daybreaker. Peach and Wario arrived by warp pipe, and Wario levitated a chunk of earth, his eyes burning with rage.

"Waluigi, don't make me hurt you! You are my brother! Rock Throw!" Wario screamed, nailing Waluigi in the side.

"Nice try, Earth Elemental, Pyronia, nice to see you." Waluigi growled.

'_Please, let this work!_' "Nice to see you too, Waluigi! Wildfire Rage!" Peaches body lit up with fire as she used her anger vibe. Suddenly, she knew what she needed to do, "Fire Guardian transform!" She evolved into Pyronia. Pyronia looked much like Flora, except she wore red, and her hair was of fire. Her wing tips were tipped with fire, "Want to die, Daybreaker?"

"I have no need of you, Pyronia. it's the moon I want." Waluigi turned to Twila.

"Waluigi, fight back! This is your mother talking to you! Fight back for your body now!" Twila raised her staff, and fired off a blast of blue light at the Daybreaker, who caught it in his hand.

"I am part moon, mother!" Waluigi growled, sending the ball of blue moon magic back at her. Twila screamed, and Sunnings dove in front of her, taking the hit. He went down, and Waluigi ghosted out, taking Twila with him.

"Da brother not like dis at all." Brightstar said.

"We failed to protect the royal family!" Lady Flame cried.

"Dere, Dere, We try best, it okay." Brightstar comforted her.

"We tried to protect her, now DK and I have to go report back to Eleanor." Bowser walked away, head low.

"We tried really hard. Who knew that the Daybreaker had mastered Waluigi's abilities?" DK went over to Sunnings, who had been knocked out in the blast. His chest rose and fell, telling the Ape that he was still alive. DK picked up the limp form of the Sun, and carried him with him. He would get some medical attention at the hospital.

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Mario walked slowly, being followed by two nurses to the elevator, and rode down two floors to the ICU. He walked slowly into Brightons room.

"Shouldn't you be two floors above us, resting?" Eleanor stood.

"I had to come down and see how my father was doing. I heard that he woke up out of the coma." Mario said.

"Mario, he has a breathing tube in his mouth, and it still isn't looking that good for him." Eleanor said.

"You don't know my father, Eleanor. This is nothing compared to what he has faced before." Mario walked over to Brighton, who opened his eyes as he sensed someone nearing him.

"I hear that they say you are fighting a losing battle." Mario said.

'_They don't know me, Mario. This is nothing. I'll be out of here in no time!_' Brighton replied, speaking telepathically.

"That's what I keep saying. I had to come see you once I heard you woke up." Mario said.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eleanor step outside and talk to Bowser. She came back in, fear written over her face.

"Brighton, he got Twila, and injured another Sun." Eleanor said.

For a minute, it was quiet, except for the steady beeping of the monitors. Suddenly, each monitor flat lined. Eleanor took Mario by the arm and took him back up to his room. Bowser, DK, and Yoshi followed, as a swarm of doctors flooded the O.R.

"I've noticed that every time Brighton starts doing well, something happens. Its like he takes one step forward, and two steps backward." Bowser said.

"Mario, they will bring him back. He'll start doing even better, as he begins the healing process." Eleanor said.

"I wish I were healed already, then I could go after the Daybreaker myself. I knew that Luigi wouldn't be able to handle it. He is too weak. I should have been the one to go." Mario's voice broke.

Eleanor's motherly instincts took over as she rubbed Mario's shoulders.

"Are you doubting your own brother? I still hurt from the beating he gave me for kidnapping you years ago! When you get that guy worried about someone, he don't stop at nothing until he sees that person safe again! Get a reality check, Mario! Luigi is capable of doing this! I still have the scars of the beating he gave me to prove it!" Bowser roared, showing the white lines on his left arm, and on his left cheek, "I thought Luigi really was going to kill me!"

"Its not that, Bowser. Its just that I am the one who always has to go save him, or bail him out of sticky situations. I have been saving him since the time we were born." Mario said, "Mom told me that once I cried for no apparent reason until she went to check on Luigi, and discovered he was running a fever of a 103. She said that I saved his life that day. We were only three months old then."

"I think you are not giving Luigi the credit he disserves! I have never seen him so angry before, when we fought after I kidnapped you! He was worried about you, and he fought through his fear to save you! Stop with the guilt trip already, Mario!" Bowser ragged, "Luigi about beat the living daylights outta me, to go save you!"

"Yea!" King Boo popped up through the floor, "back when I battled him, he started out fighting scared, then he changed. It was like I was fighting you!"

"King Boo, what are you doing here?" Eleanor asked, brisling. Bowser and Mario both let low growls escape their throats. DK glared warily at the ghost King, while Yoshi hid behind Mario, and shook.

"What kind of stupid question is that? This is a hospital, and I am a grim reaper!" King Boo said.

"What ever you do, you leave Brighton alone!" Mario snarled.

"I am not here to reap Brighton's soul. He is an immortal, and I don't do immortals. Yes, immortals die to. Even they don't get to live forever. I'm an immortal myself, and I'm already dead." King Boo said, "I have to go back and convince a comatose Cleft to die." He disappeared through the floor.

"I wish they would tell us what is going on with Brighton." Mario said.

They didn't have to wait much longer. Dr. Toadala came in, still wearing his surgical garb. It was common belief that when a doctor came out of the OR and his clothing was covered with blood, the news was never good. Dr. Toadala's surgical garb was coated in blood splatters.

"The news is not good. Brighton is a lot worse. The liver is healing nicely, but the toxins in his bloodstream have damaged his other organs. Also, he suffered an absence seizure, and he was down for sometime. There is no telling how bad the damage to his brain is. What I am saying is that his brain went without oxygen for nearly ten minutes. He may not be the same, when he wakes up. I can't promise anything." Dr. Toadala said.

"He will live, right?" Mario asked.

"Looking at it right now, this could still go ether way." Dr. Toadala said.

"See, Mario, He is doing fine, now." Eleanor said.

"Mario, since you are his son, and he is the ruler of Skyland, we can't keep this quiet much longer. Would you mind talking to a news reporter?" Dr. Toadala asked.

"Yea." Mario said.

"Okay. Kisa, you can come in, now!" Dr. Toadala called.

A female Nokis entered the room with a Koopa Troopa camera man behind her.

"Greetings, Prince Mario. My name is Kisa Jones, and I am here to get some answers out to an antsy public. Thank you for agreeing to a short interview. Trust me, I am not like other reporters. We will go as long as you want to, and if you say to omit something, it will be omitted. Is that okay?" Kisa asked.

"That's okay." Mario said, "I know I am royalty here, but can you please not use my royal title?"

"Okay, no royal titles. First question, What happened to Lord Brighton?" Kisa began the interview.

"From what I know, he suffered a work related accident, and needed a new liver. That's why I am here. I gave him a part of my liver, and he is doing fine." Mario said.

"Okay, the rumor is that the Daybreaker is behind this. Is that true?" Kisa asked.

"I am afraid I can't answer that." Mario said.

"Did what happened to Lord Brighton have anything to do with the appearance of the Daybreaker at the Parliament buildings?" Kisa asked.

"I can't answer that, ether. I will say, however, that the Daybreaker is being taken care of by my younger brother, Luigi." Mario said.

"Last question, Who has stepped up to run Skyland?" Kisa asked.

"Skyland is under Twila's control. She left to return to Clockwork Castle to catch up on some sleep." Mario lied.

"Okay, that about does it. You get well soon, Pri- Mario." Kisa left.

"You did impressively, Mario." Eleanor said.

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Twila chose not to fight. She was tossed into a cell, and the door was locked. Twila watched the Daybreaker leave. She closed her eyes and focused on orbing out, and found that the cell was surrounded by anti orb spells.

"Nuts. Once again, I get caught by the evil, and Brighton is in no condition to save me." She muttered to herself, "Might as well work on levitation to pass the time until Luigi comes."

Twila hovered, relaxing to the up down motion of hovering. Hours slid by, until she heard footsteps, and looked up. She saw Luminosity.

"The Daybreaker sent me to talk to you about his plan. He plans to turn you, and together we will turn this world into Dark Utopia!" Luminosity said.

"I hate to burst your bubble, but that isn't going to happen! Luigi won't stand for it, and he'll fight! Luminosity, you are good, remember? You are married, and you are the head sun of the Irregular Galaxy, Remember? Remember Lunus, your husband? How about your children, Dusk, and Dawn? Come on, you have got to remember something of your life!" Twila said, watching the female sun for her reaction.

"Lies, all lies! The Daybreaker is trying to pave the way to Dark Utopia, and you are only impeding his glorious way!" Luminosity sneered.

Twila felt her emotions boil over.

"Come on, you don't even remember Solarton, your boss? Or lord Sunnings, your little boss? You have got to remember your own family!" Twila screamed.

"Lies, Twila, all lies!" Luminosity said.

Twila felt her Moonstone, a gift to her from Brighton on their first wedding anniversary, start to glow white.

"I can't believe you, Luminosity! I saw you as my best friend, and as my midwife when I had the boys! You have got to remember something!" Twila screamed, thoroughly angry now. The Moonstone glowed brighter, and Twila's light gray eyes turned blue. The moonstone floated by its own accord, and a blue light shot out of it, to hit Luminosity right between the eyes.

"You have got to remember!" Twila screamed again, the light growing stronger. Luminosity seemed to be floating now. Suddenly, the light stopped, and Twila's eyes reverted to normal.

"Twila, what happened? Where are we?" Luminosity asked, "The last thing I remember is walking down the hallway to my room at the Solar Hall."

"Daybreaker." Twila slumped up against the wall, exhausted, "I didn't know I could do that."

"Daybreak- oh no, not the Daybreaker, again!" Luminosity cried.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Luminosity, it appears that my hold over you has been broken." Waluigi strode into the hold. He raised his hand, and shot off a blast of metal energy laced with shadowy light at Luminosity. Luminosity shocked everyone, by raising her right hand, and catching the blast.

"Hey, no messing with my element! Double Fire!" Luminosity returned the attack, with double the force.

"I can do one better. Triple Fire!" Waluigi blasted it back.

"I can do one even better." Luminosity flamed out to appear behind the Daybreaker, and threw lightening at him. Waluigi screamed.

"Didn't your mother teach you that every element has an opposite weakness?" the female Sun taunted.

"Twila did teach me all about that. Try this one! Silver Fire Blast!" Waluigi called, blasting silver fire at Luminosity, who simply raised her left hand, and caught it.

"I could fight you all day." Luminosity angled the attack, and winked at Twila, who ducked down at the opposite corner, and braced herself. Luminosity let the attack fly.

"Missed me, Sunny!" Waluigi taunted.

"Actually, I never missed." Luminosity said.

"Reflect!" Twila cried, after climbing out of the cell. She sent Luminosity's attack right back at the Daybreaker.

The attack caught the Daybreaker off guard, and sent him flying into an open cell. Twila locked it, and orbed the anti orb spells over to that cell.

"Lets go!" Luminosity lead the way up onto the outer deck of the Blade. The Sun and Moon leapt off the side of the ship, and flew into the gathering storm.

"Lets find Daisy and Geno, and get back to Skyland!" Luminosity called over the howling wind.

Suddenly, Twila shrieked, and Luminosity looked down to see the Moon get hit in the side by a flying tree branch, and fall.

"No, Twila!" Luminosity flamed down to catch Twila mid fall. She flamed again, and appeared over Ladila Plains. She felt something wet and sticky on her left arm, and looked down to see Twila's left side soaked in blood. The Moons eyes were open, and unfocused.

"Luminosity, it hurts real bad…" Twila whispered.

"You are going to be okay, I promise. I need you to stay awake for me, okay?" Luminosity asked.

"Okay…" Twila said.

Luminosity flamed from Ladila Plains to Eldstars Haven. She ran into the large sanctuary.

"Klevar! Kalmar! Muskular! Mamar! Skolar! Misstar! Eldstar! Twink? Somebody?" Luminosity called, "I need help!"

Klevar was at her side in an instant.

"Somebody page Eldstar! Luminosity, what happened to Twila? Through here, move it, Skolar! Here, put her down here! Kalmar!" Klevar screamed.

"She was hit by a tree branch in a storm! This is my fault! Brighton is going to kill me!" Luminosity cried.

"Kalmar! Get your backside in here now! This is life or death! Ooh! That Star Spirit has a permanent brain cramp! Kalmar! I mean it! Now!" Klevar screamed again, peeling back the folds of Twila's robe to see the injury better. A long, deep gash ran up her side, and she was losing blood at an alarming rate.

"Twila, you need to stay awake! Come on, fight for Brighton! He could never live without you in his life! Fight for your children! Come on, Stay with me!" Luminosity cried, tears streaming down her face. Her hands began to glow.

"I swear, I am going to kill Kalmar! Kalmar! Get your smelly, rotting, other word for a butt down here this instant! I think Twila is dying!" Klevar bellowed again.

"The pain… It stopped… I can see… Fate is coming for me…" Twila whispered.

"No! I'm not going to lose you! Brighton needs you more then ever now! Stay with me!" Luminosity cried, her hands glowing even brighter. The gash started to close on Twila's side.

"Luminosity, you are healing her! Keep it up!" Klevar said, excitedly.

"You are right! Twila, come back to me! Brighton is going to need you to help him heal!" Luminosity called, her hands glowing even brighter. The gash got even smaller, then it disappeared. All traces of its blood vanished, and Twila jerked, coming back to life.

"What happened?" She asked.

"You almost died, Twila." Klevar said, "Speaking of which, Kalmar! You are a dead star!"

Just then, a scream split the night. Klevar ran into the main room, with Luminosity and Twila behind him. Mamar was white. She only pointed at the floor, where a trail of blood led to the shattered remains of a window, where a bloody handprint pointed inwards.

"He got Kalmar, Klevar." Muskular whispered.

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**Queen Sunstar: Sorry, I zoned out, and just now realized I'm on page thirteen of the document. Here is an interesting fact about Critical. Brightons injuries are based on the ones my uncle received in a boating accident two months ago. I even gave a part of my liver to him to save his life. Everything that happened to him, will happen to Brighton. My uncle is doing great today. I started typing Critical in the waiting room of a local hospital. I don't know how long Critical is going to be, but the next chapter is called Together Again. In it, we will see Daisy, Geno, Peach, Wario, Luigi, Solance, Twila, Luminosity, Solarton and Mallow meet up back at the hospital, and Waluigi will begin to fight back the Daybreaker for his body. A massive freak storm strikes Solarsky, and Luminosity races against time to bring back the electricity to the hospital. Brighton will reawaken sometime the next chapter.**

**Twila: Queenie! You trying to kill me off or something?**

**Queen Sunstar: no, I didn't mean anything by putting you at deaths door. I saved you, didn't I?**

**Twila: True, but I want Amerella to type the next chapter! **

**Queen Sunstar: We'll see.**

**Twila: Don't forget to review, dear!**


	9. The Storm Breaks part 1

**Amerella: Greetings! I am helping Queen Sunstar with this Chapter.**

**Queen Sunstar: (Holding head) Writers block… **

**Twila: (Hands Queen Sunstar a book shaped like a block) Here, read your writers block, and get busy! Amerella, she tried to kill me off in the last chapter!**

**Amerella: What did you do to make her mad?**

**Twila: I don't know. I was reading over her shoulder, like I always do. **

**Amerella: (Reading last chapter) Hmm, I see. She brought you to deaths door so Kalmar can get taken. Here is the latest chapter, folks! Twila, the disclaimer?**

**Twila: (Boredly) Queen Sunstar and Amerella do not own the Mario brothers, only their own characters like Solance and Lunella.**

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Solarton stared silently at the flickering flames inside the fireplace. His mind went over the details of what had recently happened. Suddenly, a gust of wind whooshed through the room, causing the flames to dance madly, and burn out. The room was plunged into darkness. Solarton only flinched. He stood up, and went to the fireplace to restart the fire. Something hit his shoulder from behind, and he spun around, staff flashing warily, only to come face to face with the Eye.

"What are you doing here, Hellhound?" Solarton asked, struggling to keep his voice calm.

"_Overlord Solarton, my old archrival, I came to warn you of my spawns true intentions. He let the others escape, because the ones he wants are the stars…_" The eye bobbled up and down, communicating telepathically.

"Your spawn has killed two of my best Suns, and injured two others. Lord Sunnings will be fine, but we don't know if Brighton will make it." Solarton snarled.

"_So sad, and Brighton knows the weakness… of both of us…_" the eye whispered, "_I am nearly resurrected…_ _Flora and Pyronia's blood has given me strength… but it won't be complete until the blood of Aqueena and Thundrina is given to me…_"

"I killed you once, Hellhound, and I will not hesitate to do so again!" Solarton growled, drawing himself up to his full height, his spikes brisling.

"_Heed my warning, or lose the stars…_" Hellhound hissed, fading out. The room returned to normal, and Solarton found himself sitting in his chair, watching the fire in the fireplace. He smelled dried blood in the air, and felt his heart race, as he stood, and turned. There was nothing else in the room. Solarton looked around, and caught sight of a tattered piece of paper sticking out between two books. Cautiously, he crept closer to the paper, and touched it. Carefully, he pulled it out, slowly, from between the two books. It was an ancient bookmark. It showed the order of the Celestials. A mustache less Eldstar was on top, followed by a young Solarita, and below her was Silverado, and last came the Earth. The edges were bloodstained, and brittle. Solarton was so engrossed with what he had found that he didn't hear the door open.

"Solarton? What are you looking at?" Twiletta asked, walking into the room.

Solarton jumped a mile, and spun around, his spikes instantly going stiff, the traditional fear response. He relaxed once he realized it was only Twiletta. His spikes returned to normal.

"You startled me, dear. I found Solarita's old cross stitched bookmark, with Silverado's blood on it." Solarton said.

"Let me see… this is an amazing find. It means that the legend of Silverado was wrong. He was only trying to protect her from the Hellhound." Twiletta said.

"I saw the Hellhound." Solarton whispered, "And I think this has something to do with this. I am going to go check on Brighton."

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Geno was amazed by the size of the mansion, and it beauty inside as well as outside. As he walked down a hallway, he felt himself pass through a shaft of cold air. He turned, and screamed. The ghost screamed back.

"Geez! Don't you watch where you are going?" the ghost asked.

"You are a ghost." Geno said.

"The name is Biff. I'm Master Luigi's personal trainer. Yes, I am a ghost." Biff said.

"Shouldn't you be in the Ghost Realm?" Geno asked.

"I should, but I am stuck here, like some of the others. There's Melody, Shivers, Belcha the cook, the dog, Madame Clairvoyant, Bill, and King Boo lives in the basement." Biff said.

"I'm Geno." Geno said.

"Biff, are you terrorizing the guests again?" Daisy walked around the corner.

"Mistress Daisy, I was introducing myself to the guest." Biff said.

"Biff, you haunt the weight room. What are you doing in the hallway?" Daisy asked.

"I got hungry, and decided to go see if I could talk a snack out of Belcha." Biff said.

"Ghosts eat?" Geno arched an eyebrow.

"Where else do you think we ghosts get our energy? Of course we eat." Biff said.

"Biff, I would be more inclined to believe you, if you were standing in front of the dinning room door, not in front of Melodies room." Daisy said.

"Okay, I give up. I'll go back to the weight room." Biff sulked, floating back to the weight room where he belonged.

"Gadd released several of the ghosts from their paintings." Daisy said, "We will stay here for the night, and leave tomorrow morning. I smell something good cooking in the kitchen, and I need to go make sure Belcha is not trying to cook the ghost dog, again."

Daisy left Geno in the hallway, and walked around the corner. Suddenly she stopped.

"Geno! Some of the doors are fake!" She called. There was a crash, followed by a scream.

"Thanks for the warning that's a little late!" Geno called back.

Daisy walked through the dinning room, and entered the kitchen. Belcha had loved food in life, and now spent his afterlife cooking meals. He had gone on a diet, and lost most of his weight that he had gained in life. His death weight was 789 pounds. He had dropped nearly five hundred pounds.

"Belcha, what is for dinner?" She asked.

"Healthy food, Mistress Daisy. I decided on a pasta entrée with a side dish of dark, leafy greens in small quantities." Belcha said, his ghostly hands invisible at the chopping block.

"We have a guest, and Luigi is still out." Daisy said, "And you are still feeding Gadd, and the other ghosts."

"Thanks for the reminder, Mistress Daisy. Any idea on when Master Luigi gets back?" Belcha asked.

"I wish I knew." Daisy slipped out the backdoor into the side yard where Ghostie, the ghost dog, spent its afterlife. She whistled, and heard an answering bark as the bull dog came charging up to her.

"Hello to you, too, Ghostie." Daisy cooed to the dog. She played with it until Belcha rang the dinner bell.

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"He got Kalmar, Klevar." Muskular whispered.

"What?" Klevar wondered if he heard the blue star spirit right.

"The Daybreaker got Kalmar!" Mamar screamed, finally finding her voice.

"This is bad, very bad. What would the Daybreaker want with Kalmar?" Luminosity asked.

"The star rod." Twila spoke from behind her.

"The star rod?" Luminosity questioned.

"If we were to go dark willingly, then the Star Rod goes dark, and the Daybreaker becomes all powerful. Not even Fate would beable to stop him then." Misstar explained.

"Kalmar is good, so we won't have to worry about him changing, right?" Luminosity asked, her spikes stiff, showing her fear.

"Who knows what the Daybreaker can do." Muskular said.

"Luminosity and I will return to Skyland, and figure something out with Brighton. Last I heard, he had woken up." Twila said, "Luminosity, I'll orb us there." The Moon and the Sun disappeared in a flash of blue light.

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Luigi hobbled around the room, trying to walk. His scraped and bruised lags protested each time he put weight on them. He want to leave as soon as he could. Solance came into the room.

"Luigi, I know you want to leave, but doing too much too soon is not good for you." Solance said.

It was the next day, and Solance had a bandage covering his right eye. The scrape was not deep, and it had bleed some more this morning. Luigi had endured another round of Queen Nimbus changing his bandages. The solution she used had stung like the dickens on his scrapes as she scrubbed his injuries clean. Solance had suffered next as she attacked his scrape over his eye.

"My legs barely hurt. We should be able to leave soon." Luigi said, walking a little better.

"Queen Nimbus told us to stay here and heal for the next two weeks, which I intend to do." Solance said.

"Then be my guest. I'm leaving tomorrow." Luigi said.

"Queen Nimbus will decide that." Solance said.

At that moment, Queen Nimbus entered the room.

"Luigi, how do those legs of yours feel?" She asked.

"They feel great. I feel very little pain." Luigi said.

"That's good. Solance, your scrape is bleeding, again." Queen Nimbus said, going to the cabinet to get out more gauze, antiseptic solution, scissors, penlight, and medical tape. She got to work on Solance. She peeled back the bandage, and used a washcloth dipped in the solution to clean the injury. Then she held the washcloth in place while applying pressure to stop the bleeding. Then, she turned on the penlight and checked the eye for bloodspots. She bandaged the injury.

"It is healing up nicely, but I do wish it wouldn't bleed so much. Luigi, lets check those legs." Queen Nimbus said, turning her attention to Luigi, who grimaced, and sat down on the edge of the bed obediently. Queen Nimbus cut away the bandages, rubbed more antiseptic solution on to the scrapes, and rewrapped Luigi's legs.

"Queen Nimbus, I need to go back to Skyland, soon." Luigi said.

"I understand, Luigi. I'll let you leave tomorrow morning with Solance, since I am pretty sure that his wound has finally stopped bleeding for good." Queen Nimbus said.

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Waluigi floated in pure darkness, mulling over what Brighton had told him.

"Dad is right. I have got to fight back, but how?" Waluigi asked out loud.

He felt his feet touch something solid, and noticed the ground. He saw a desert like landscape, with mountains rising in the distance. The sky, if you could call it that, took on a dark purple hue, making the landscape black. He looked ahead to see a floating white light.

"I get it, now. I am still in control. Now, I can fight back." Waluigi walked forward, moving toward the light.

"_What do you think you are doing?_" The Daybreaker spoke, causing the landscape to fade out.

"Reclaiming my body!" Waluigi screamed.

"_Unfortunately, your body is mine, fool!_" The Daybreaker growled.

"Why do you want my body?" Waluigi asked, changing tactics.

"_You are me, Waluigi. Its time to accept that fact now, or should I call you Twilus?_" the Daybreaker asked.

"What?" Waluigi asked.

"_You still have not figured it out? I am you, Twilus. I am the dark part of your soul. You were killed by Brighton, and reborn as his son. Remember that battle?_" the Daybreaker asked.

The darkness lifted. Waluigi heard the sounds of a ragging battle, before he saw it. He found himself staring at the angry face of Brighton, and watched as he spun around to counter a blow from Lumin. Waluigi felt the cold steel of a sword being driven into his back, and screamed. He saw the flash of silver that was lumens sword, and saw darkness.

"Why did you show me that? Why now? That was 5000 years ago!" Waluigi cried.

"_He killed you, Twilus. I waited for you to be reborn, but I couldn't get back into you because of the Skyland/Shyland war. We are finally reunited, Twilus._" The Daybreaker growled.

"Daybreaker, are you saying that you and I are one? Am I somehow doing this to myself?" Waluigi asked.

"_I am you. You are me. We are one and the same…_" the Daybreaker said, "_You can't fight yourself…_"

Waluigi went silent, pondering this. The more he thought about it, the more it started to make sense. He remembered the nightmares he had suffered from as a child. Each dream was the same. He would see the blood splattered angry face of his father, with a sword in his right hand, and his left hand bandaged, and he would turn to counter a hit from Lumin, feel the sword in his back, and see the glint of lumens sword, and wake up as it went dark, screaming and crying his fathers name. Brighton would come running and comfort him, telling him it was just a nightmare, nothing more.

"They thought it was an after effect of the war, that I saw a soldier die, and it had scared me. I am the Daybreaker." Waluigi whispered, anguish squeezing his heart. As much as he wanted it to not be true, he knew that it was true.

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High over the southern sea, the wounded Blade hovered. Waluigi stepped out onto the deck, and raised his arms, chanting in an ancient language. A cloud formed, and began to swirl in slow, lazy circles. The wind began to howl, causing the cloud to spin faster. It began to split, and grow larger. The storm crawled toward Solarsky.

If anyone had been watching the storm form, they would have thought it was a normal storm, until it glowed dark purple, and changed to black.

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Twila took the lead inside the hospital. She went up to Mario's room first.

"Mom!" Mario cried, "You were saved!"

"Mario, my son." Twila felt her motherly instincts taking over, again, and hugged Mario.

Eleanor signaled Twila to step outside for a minute. Bowser stood up, and went with them.

"Milady, his Lordship, Brighton," Eleanor got interrupted.

"Please, cut the royal title stuff. We are not inside Clockwork." Twila said.

"Twila, He is worse." Bowser said, bluntly.

"What happened?" Twila asked, a sickening feeling in her stomach.

"Brighton had a seizure, and he was down for sometime. They don't know how bad the damage is to his brain. Also, his other organs have taken damage from the toxins released by his liver as it failed." Eleanor explained.

"And?" Twila asked.

"They won't know anything until he wakes up. They are sending Mario home tomorrow, and Eleanor and I thought it best to take him with us back to Castle Kooplin to recover, unless you want him to stay in Clockwork." Bowser said.

"Take him with you, and make sure he recovers." Twila decided, "I'm going to go see Brighton."

Luminosity joined Twila in the elevator.

"DK told me everything." Luminosity said.

The Elevator stopped in the Lobby, and the door opened to reveal Rose and Violet, who had been waiting for it. Rose was the Princess of Gardena, an Island out in the Aegean Archipelago. The Aegean Archipelago was also the home of Yoshi Island, the two DK Country Islands, Kremlin Island, Isle Delfino, and the Iceland continent down on its frozen southern tip. Rose was heavyset, with long red hair. She had deep green eyes, and wore a dress similar in design to Peaches dress. Rose preferred to wear light green, as it brought out her eyes. She wore a sun shaped brooch with an emerald in its center.

Violet was tall, and skinny, much like her boyfriend, Waluigi. She had long black hair, and deep gray eyes. Her dress was purple and blue, and her brooch was in the shape of a star. Her crystal was an amethyst. Violet was not a Princess, like Rose, Peach, and Daisy. She was the Guardian of Starworld, home to the Hallowed Four, a group of Yoshies with special powers. Starstone was the Queen of all Yoshi kind, and was rumored to be the only winged Uni alive. She was deep rich twilight purple with a white horn and wings. Sandstone, the Dreamspeaker, was a yellow Uni with a yellow horn. Windstone was dark blue with white wings, and Firestone was red, and had no wings, or a horn. The two women entered the elevator.

"I heard, Twila. Brighton will pull through." Violet said.

"I came once I found out. My kingdom is praying for Brighton to recover." Rose added, "How is Wario and Waluigi holding up?"

"Waluigi is ah, indisposed, and Wario went with Luigi to uh, help deliver something to Nimbus Land." Twila said, lamely.

"No offense, but why don't I believe you?" Rose asked, as the elevator began to move again.

"I didn't tell the truth, because I didn't want you to worry. Wario and Luigi are out fighting the Daybreaker." Twila said, closing her eyes as if the truth hurt.

"No, not Waluigi! Please tell me, Waluigi is not the Daybreaker!" Violet cried.

"He is the Daybreaker, Violet." Luminosity said.

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The next morning found Daisy and Geno outside the mansion, watching the pipe rise up out of the ground. They jumped in, and shot out of the pipe into Mushroom Kingdom. Daisy lead the way into the Pipe House, and two seconds later, a rusty colored pipe spat them out in front of the Hospital, where they met up with Mallow, Solance, and Luigi.

"Daisy! You are safe!" Luigi cried, giving her a hug.

"Luigi!" Daisy cried, burying her face into Luigi's shoulder.

"Geno, you have not turned?" Mallow asked.

"No, but I almost did turn." Geno said, "Lets get the show on the road, people!"

Everybody walked into the hospital, and passed by Mario, who was being discharged into the care of Bowser, and Eleanor. DK and Yoshi were with them. They were headed back to their homelands. Five minutes later, they met up with Luminosity out in the waiting room.

"Twila has not left Brighton once, since we got here yesterday night." the female Sun said, filling them in on what happened to Kalmar, and Twila's near death experience.

The lights flickered dangerously, as the storm made its arrival. The wind howled, as thunder and lightening went to war. The rain fell, like drops of blood spraying from an open wound. Luminosity turned to look out the window, as the lights gave up their desperate battle to stay on.

"Sweet mother of Eldstar…" She whispered. Luigi turned, and bit back a scream.

"Momma Mia…" He said softly.

Outside, the clouds spun, forming a giant funnel that raced to met the ground. The rain turned into record sized balls of hail, and the windows cracked ominously. The dark funnel raced toward a shell shocked Solarsky. Twila ran into the waiting room, and froze the windows.

"Funnels are never purple! Luigi, Wario, go! Luminosity, can you do something about the electricity? The generator is in the basement!" The Moon cried.

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**Queen Sunstar: And I'll stop here, as I have no more time to work. Next chapter is part two of this one.**

**Twila: Don't forget to Review, please!**

**Amerella: Next update, is Monday of next week.**


	10. The Storm Breaks part 2

**Queen Sunstar: My writers block has passed, and I am back in action!**

**Twila: Should I be worried?**

**Queen Sunstar: No, you don't have to worry. **

**Twila: (Sarcastic) Insert disclaimer here, and you should know by now that Queen Sunstar doesn't own me, or any of the Mario bros characters, only her own characters like Solance.**

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"Me? Go out there? Are you nuts? There's a flipping monster tornado out there!" Luigi wailed.

"Luigi, you are the future Sun of the skies! Go out there, put a stop to that thing!" Twila cried, "Get moving!"

"Hello, what part of there's a monster tornado out there do you not understand?" Luigi shot back.

"I'm not arguing this with you! Go! You control weather!" Twila yelled.

"I control electricity! Not weather!" Luigi cried.

"What do you think powers a storm?" Twila screamed.

"Uh, Electricity?" Luigi asked.

"Yes! Go out there and short circuit that thing before I warp you out there myself! Oh, and go solar!" Twila cried, "Wario, you too!"

Luigi closed his eyes, and glowed briefly, going solar. He became Brightsun.

"What can I do?" Wario asked Twila, "I'm earth!"

"You can help by moving the earth to slow that thing." Twila said, "Luminosity, go! There isn't much time!"

Brightsun flamed outside, with Wario in tow. He left Wario on the ground, and rose to meet the oncoming storm. His hands glowed blue, and he fired off a round of blue Thunderhand charged lightening bolts. They went through the tornado, and Wario yelped, diving out of the way.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to do something here!" He screamed.

"Sorry!" Brightsun called down, and resumed staring at the storm.

"Well, are ya gonna stare at it while it destroys everything, or are ya gonna actually do something about it?" Wario asked.

"Wario, I'm thinking! I can only think so fast you know!" Brightsun called down.

"Brightsun, you can't exactly think it to death, you know!" Wario screamed.

His answer was a lightening bolt crashing into his backside. He howled, rivaling the cry of the wind.

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Luminosity flamed down to the door leading to the basement. She heard a dripping noise, and froze, listening.

_Drip…_

_Drip…_

_Drip…_

Did the noise seam to be moving? Luminosity felt her heart rate speed up, as her hand rested on the doorknob. She opened the door, and saw nothing. Cautiously, she crept into the dark room. Suddenly, the door slammed closed, causing her to jump a mile. Luminosity swore she herd sadistic laughter.

_Creek…_

_Creek…_

_Creek…_

Luminosity backed up until she hit something slimy. The footsteps moved closer, and closer…

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"DO YOU MIND? THAT WAS MY BUTT YOU JUST FRIED, BRIGHTSUN!" Wario screamed. He got no answer.

"Brightsun?" Wario looked around. It was eerily calm, and quiet. He looked up and saw a faintly glowing purple orb, and made another realization.

"Oh shroot, I'm inside the thing. Hmm, I bet that is what is controlling this thing." Wario raised his right hand, palm up, and lifted a chunk of the ground. His hand curled into a fist, and the chunk of earth curled into a large rounded stone. He made a throwing motion, and the rock shot into the orb. There was a crackling noised, and the storm wavered, and slowed down. Wario heard Brightsun scream out another electrically based attack, and ducked. The orb exploded. The storm died out. Wario finally got his first look around. The storm had cut a swath of destruction through the heart of Solarsky. Even Clockwork had sustained some damage.

Brightsun saw the two rocks coming, and tried to flame out. He got smacked by both rocks instead.

"Wario!" Brightsun screamed, reverting back to Luigi, "What was that for?"

"See the scorch mark on my pants? That is what that was for!" Wario cried.

"Wario, that was not me." Luigi said.

"Who else shoots lightening?" Wario said.

"The storm did for awhile back there. Our job is done. Lets go back inside and see how Dad is doing." Luigi lead the way back to the hospital.

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The Daybreaker watched from afar as his storm died. He growled menacingly, and turned to walk into the Blade. Something caught his eye, and he turned toward Clockwork.

"So that is where Eldstar went." Waluigi mused, striding into the Blade. Silently, the warship turned toward the castle, and landed neatly inside the courtyard. no one noticed the black shape crawling into the castle, and shrinking into the shadows.

Eldstar floated away from the window after watching Luigi and Wario deal with the storm. He saw a flash of black and felt something hit his shoulders. He whipped around and saw nothing. Eldstar turned back to the door, and felt the thing strike again. He struggled, but it was no use. His body refused to obey his commands, and he found himself walking outside. Eldstar could only watch helplessly as his body walked aboard the Blade.

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"Do come any closer! I am powerful!" Luminosity called into the darkness.

"I know, but Twila still sent me after you!" Solance answered.

Luminosity let out a breath of air, "Solance! You scared me! I can't see a thing in this darkness!"

"I can see just fine in the darkness. Generator is over there." Solance said, forming a fireball in his hand. The glow of the fireball lit up the room in a dim glow. Luminosity went over to the generator, and formed a bolt of electricity in one hand, while using her mind and other hand to work on the wires. Solance yelped suddenly, and nearly put his fireball out.

"Stupid Fuzzies! Stay away! I mean- Oww! that's it! Fireball Frenzy! Well, you didn't listen to me when I told you to stay!" Solance said to the black fuzzy.

"I am almost through here! Keep them back! Oh, and black ones take health, green ones take flower points, gold ones take some of both, purple ones are poisonous, blue ones put you to sleep, red ones make you angry, and gray ones do everything." Luminosity called.

"What do white ones do?" Solance asked, keeping the white fuzzy away from him.

"White? If that thing blows, we are screwed!" Luminosity called.

"They keep coming and coming!" Solance responded, forming a wall of fire around him and Luminosity.

"Electro Rage! I need a few more minutes! Hurt, didn't it?" Luminosity used her hand holding the electricity to hit a blue fuzzy that tried to drop down on her, "Finished! Lets see if it will work! Don't fail me now, yellow, green and blue!" Luminosity turned on the generator, and the lights came on. The Fuzzies squealed and exploded left and right. A fireball knocked out the white one, and Solance warped out into the sky, where it couldn't hurt anything when it exploded. The two suns walked back out into the main area of the basement, and Luminosity heard the dripping noise again. It was only water dripping from a leaky overhead pipe. They headed back upstairs.

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Kalmar looked up when he heard the door open, and watched Waluigi toss Eldstar in to the cell next to him, and leave. The young star spirit levitated shakily up to the window separating the two cells.

"Sire?" He called.

"Yes?" Eldstar looked up, "Who else does he have, Kalmar?"

"Just me, Sire." Kalmar said, "Why is he going after us? I don't see Geno, or Luminosity here."

"The Daybreaker is the Last Survivor of Dark Utopia, Kalmar." Eldstar levitated gracefully up to the window.

"Dark Utopia? I'm confused. What is Dark Utopia?" Kalmar asked.

Eldstar sighed. He didn't want to have to tell the long harrowing story of the fall of the tenth planet under Brighton's care.

"Some things are best left unsaid, Kalmar. Are you sure you want to know what Dark Utopia is?" Eldstar asked.

"I feel that I need to know this, Sire. It may have something to do with why we were captured." Kalmar said.

"Normally, a Sun cares for three to five planets. Not Solon, who cared for ten different planets. I'll tell you everything, Kalmar. Billeiniums ago, when I was a Star Kid, there were ten planets being nourished and loved by Solon. Utopia and Earth were close together. All ten planets flourished into healthy young worlds. Then disaster struck. Utopia became infected by evil, and went dark. Solon tried everything to save the planet. In the end, He removed two of its beings, and forced the planet to self destruct. The female died sometime later due to some unknown disease, but the male lived. He called himself the Daybreaker, and vowed to kill Solon for killing his world. He was different from the others of his kind. His soul is immortal. Utopia's remains is the Asteroid Belt. The Daybreaker's body died, freeing the Soul trapped inside. Then came the Hellhound battles. The Hellhound created the Daybreaker. I will try to describe both of his forms. He has his normal form. He looks like a black shadow siren in the shape of a sun. He has two normal red eyes, and a third, larger eye above the normal eyes. This eye is quite similar to that of a snake. Its pupil is black while the rest of the eye is blood red. He has two long silver horns on ether side of his head where the third, and fifteenth spike would be. His spikes are poisonous, much like those of a cancerous sun. it is believed that he is a Shadow Siren/Sun cross blood. That is his normal form. His other form is that of a giant Eye. It is his third eye. He was finally brought down by Silverado, Solarita's lover. Silverado made the ultimate sacrifice to protect her, but he didn't kill the Hellhound, only weakened it further. Solarton was the one who finally killed the Hellhound. The Daybreaker went and invaded Twilis's body, and began the Daybreaker war. He was supposedly defeated by Brighton, but it nearly cost Brighton his life. If the Daybreaker succeeds in turning the entire Sky Legion dark, he'll have access to the Star Rod, which he'll use to resurrect Dark Utopia, and conquer the entire Universe, and resurrect Hellhound." Eldstar watched the younger Star for a reaction.

"This is serious, then. Brighton can't save us because of his injuries, basically, we are screwed." Kalmar said.

"Actually, we are not screwed yet, Kalmar. Brighton's blood runs strong and deep in Luigi." Eldstar said.

"Luigi is afraid of everything. He'll never survive a quest of this magnitude, Eldstar, Sire." Kalmar said.

"Kalmar, there is a hero inside everyone. Even Bowser has a hero inside of him. There is no absolute evil inside this universe, just like there is no absolute good. Luigi will rise and overcome this challenge." Eldstar said, "It is up to him, now."

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Luigi and Wario met up with Solarton in the Critical Care Lobby. Twila was waiting for them. With her, was Luminosity and Solance.

"They finally moved Brighton out of the OR, and up a floor to Critical Care. He is finally breathing on his own, and is awake. Luigi, Brighton has been waiting for you." Twila said.

"Does this mean I'm no longer losing another Sun?" Solarton couldn't decide weather to laugh, or cry. He wound up doing both.

"They are saying that he has a fighting chance to recover. Mario was discharged this morning into Eleanor and Bowsers care." Twila said, leading them into a small private waiting room. She took Luigi to the open door in the back of the room. The Critical Care floor's hospital rooms were designed with a small waiting area in front of each room, and there was a tiny hallway between each room to make it easier for a doctor to respond to emergencies.

"Brighton, Luigi is here. Who is going to tell him?" Twila sounded tired.

"I will, Twila. Luigi, its all right. I don't bite. Come in." Brighton said, his voice slightly slurred. Luigi felt himself relax. Twila went back out into the waiting area, leaving Luigi to walk into the room, and sit down.

"Its good to hear your voice again, Dad. Why do you want to talk to me?" Luigi said.

"There is not much time left. Its up to you now, Luigi." Brighton said.

"What is up to me?" Luigi asked.

"You are Earths last hope. Long ago, there were ten planets under Solon's care. One of them, a planet named Utopia, found between Mars and Jupiter, went dark. It renamed itself Dark Utopia. In the end, Solon was forced to destroy it. Its remains became known as the Asteroid Belt. The Daybreaker is the Last Survivor of his world. In order to bring back his world, he needs the Sky Legion to go dark and give him the Star Rod. Also, he is trying to bring back the Hellhound. He needs the blood of the four Celestial Guardians to do so. He already has the blood of two of them, Peach and Daisy. He needs Violet and Rose to finish the job. There is another reason why Dark Utopia was destroyed. If Dark Utopia is brought back, Its gravity will rip Mars to shreds, and could possibly be strong enough to harm Jupiter. Once Mars is destroyed, it will destroy the Earth. You need to go on this Quest to stop this from happening. Go to Star Peak, and ask for the Good Star Daydream. Daydream will tell you more then I can about the Daybreaker, the Hellhound, and Dark Utopia." Brighton said.

"I'll take the quest." Luigi answered, "I'll make you proud, Dad. Do I have to go alone?"

"No, my son. Geno and Mallow are going with you, and so is Wario and Solance." Brighton said, "You will leave tomorrow morning."

"I understand." Luigi stood, and heard Daisy scream. He ran out into the other room, and found her on the floor, in Wario's arms.

"What happened?" He asked.

The window at the end of the hallway creaked open, and Waluigi strode into the room. He put his hand up, freezing everyone in the room. He took Peach, Daisy, Rose, and Violet, and left, unfreezing the room, and leaving the usual trail of blood with the handprint on the window still.

"WALUIGI!" Wario cried, running to the window. He saw nothing, but the falling darkness outside.

"He took my Daisy!" Luigi cried.

"He is going to resurrect the Hellhound!" Brighton called from the other room.

"Luigi, we will get her back from him. I promise." Mallow said.

"The Daybreaker did something to her. He is trying to turn her evil." Geno spoke up.

"Tomorrow Morning, we meet back here to start on that quest. I'll stop at nothing to get my Daisy back!" Luigi responded, feeling brave.

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**Queen Sunstar: Sorry about the delay in getting this chapter up. I couldn't work on it at all last Weekend due to power surges from the storm, and the fact My sister and I were cleaning out the cubby hole under the stairs back at our parents house. Who knew we had so much stuff crammed back there. I will do everything in my power to not be a day late next time.**

**Twila: Reviews are greatly appreciated! This story has had over 546 hits! **


	11. The Quest Begins

"To get to Star Peak, which is the home of the ancient Star Spirits, we will travel across Skyland. Shalom, What should we expect?" Geno turned to the Shy Guy butler standing next to him. It was late that evening, and they were inside the Clockwork Castle library, working out the last few details of the journey to Star Peak.

"Skyland is mostly wet moorland. There is the Ghostly Forest, the Silent Bluffs, and the Ravaged Ravine in the heart of Skyland. Star Peak is here in the Celestial Mountains. You will start here in Solarsky, and travel to Crescent Outpost here in the moorland, and from there, you will reach the Ravaged Ravine. Beware of the Earthquakes, as Skyland is famous for its 7.2 to 9.8 quakes on the Haley Scale. You will cross the ravine, and reach the Eerie Oasis on the edge of Silent Bluffs, which you will scale, and drop into the great Remina Fault, and enter the Ghostly Forest. Beware of the Wildboos. These boos are carnivores, and do not answer to King Boo. There are three kinds of Wildboos. Lets see, Vamprboo, Wolfboo, and Wailboo. A Vamprboo is colored light green, and has long fangs. These boos are bloodsuckers. Their eyes are red. Wolfboo live in packs, and are wolf like in nature. They look like floating balls of fluff, and have the characteristic snout of a wolf. They hate sunlight. Wailboos are pale blue, and they pass the time by singing. Its how they lure prey into traps to eat them. Star Peak is on the other side of a second stretch of moorland outside Ghostly Forest. This piece is the foggiest section of Skyland. It is called Anguish Way for a reason. Star Peak is right here, and you will have to climb up to its peak, where the ancient Stars reside." Shalom explained.

"Those Stars would be Flamar, Teachar, Stormar, Timar, Daydream, Nightmare, and Formar." Geno rattled off, "Daydream and Nightmare are the parents of Eldstar, Flamar is Klevar and Kalmar's Grandfather, Formar is their granduncle. Like them, Flamar and Formar were twins. Teachar is Skolars grandfather, Stormar is Misstars grandfather, and Timar is her grandmother."

"B-b-boos? W-w-wild boos?" Luigi asked, his voice shaking. Boos were his worst fear.

"Luigi, now is not the time to panic." Mallow said.

"No, I'm overly excited about walking through a forest full of wild boos! Yes, I'm panicking!" Luigi screamed.

"Luigi, what is so scary about a boo? They can't really hurt you." Solance asked.

"They are creepy looking!" Luigi didn't realize that he was making the rug everyone was standing on float.

"Luigi, calm down. Set us down gently-Oww!" Shalom cried, "He has Great Lord Brighton in him alright. Even Great Lord Brighton makes things float when he gets scared! Luigi! Drop me! Wait! Don't- Oww! You dropped me!"

"Luigi, breathe in and out deeply five times in a row." Solance said.

"I would if I weren't hyperventilating!" Luigi screamed, breathing. Books started flying off the shelves. Then it was calm.

"Luigi?" Geno asked. His answer was a book in the face, "Oof! Nope, still panicking."

"Luigi, you do want to save Daisy, right?" Mallow asked.

"Yeah," Luigi said.

"Then you need to calm down. When we get to the Ghostly Forest, we will worry about that fear of yours then." Mallow said.

"But I'm still scared of boos." Luigi said.

"Its late, and we need to leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning if we want to reach Crescent Outpost by dark.. Lets call it a night." Solance said.

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Waluigi sat in a dark room. The corner of the room lit up and took the shape of an eye.

"_You still have not finished reviving me, Daybreaker. What is the delay?_" the Hellhound whispered.

"I am working on reviving my world, Hellhound. We have a problem. The Great Lord has sent his son to travel to Star Peak." Waluigi said.

"_We can't let him reach Star Peak. Daydream will ruin everything for us by giving him the you know what. Stop him in every way you can. Use Them, if you must._" the Hellhound whispered, "_and revive me already!_"

"Yes, I'll send Them after him and finish reviving you, Hellhound." Waluigi nodded.

He stood, and left the room. Waluigi walked to the heart of the Blade, and tapped out a code with his foot. The floor slid open, revealing a set of stairs, which he walked down. He reached the door, opened it, and walked inside the hidden room. Waluigi raised his hands, and three lean figures slunk out of the shadows. One of them was a black winged lion with a flaming mane and tail tip, the other was a black and white tiger female with green eyes and black wings, the last one was a black winged panther with red eyes like the lion.

"Darksun, Darkmoon, and Darkstar, I have a mission for the three of you. You are to stop the son of the Great Lord at all costs. Understand?" Waluigi asked.

"Yesss, Master." Darkmoon, the tiger, purred.

"We will get him for you, master." Darksun, the lion, said.

"Lets go, then! I can't wait to try out my nightmare scream! Did I tell you? It makes you have a nightmare!" Darkstar, the panther, said, getting silenced by a growl from Darksun.

"Darkstar, control yourself." Darksun led the way out into the night.

"I can't help being so hyper! Did I tell you? I was-" Darkstar was interrupted.

"SHUT UP!" Darkmoon snarled.

"Okay." Darkstar said.

"Darkstar?" Darkmoon asked.

"Yea?" Darkstar asked

"Shut up!" Darkmoon cried.

"Okay." Darkstar said.

"Darkstar?" Darkmoon asked.

"Yea?" Darkstar said.

"Shut up!" Darkmoon cried.

"Okay." Darkstar said.

"Darkstar?" Darkmoon asked

"Yea?" Darkstar said.

"Shut up!" Darkmoon cried.

"Okay." Darkstar said.

"Would you both shut up?" Darksun growled.

"Yes, sir." Both the tigress and the panther said, following the lion.

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Luigi woke as sunlight hit his face. He had slept in the room that was his back before he and Mario had been separated from their brothers and their parents. Briefly, he wondered if he would be any different today if he had been raised by his parents. Luigi got up, and went to the window. Brightstar was doing his duty, shining in the sky. Luigi felt a pang of sadness as he remembered that it would be him shining up in the sky soon. He heard a soft knock at the door, and went to answer it. It was Mallow.

"We are leaving in fifteen minutes." Mallow said.

"Okay." Luigi said, watching as the Prince of Nimbus Land went to wake Geno next. He was dressed and ready to go in minutes. They left a short time later, on Yoshi back. Wario was given the task of driving the supplies wagon which was being pulled by a pair of chain chomps. Solance rode Spitfire, a solid red yoshi, which was his own yoshi, Luigi had Sunfire, a twilight purple winged female with dark red spikes running down her back, and a red saddle. Geno had borrowed Sandbar, another yellow yoshi. Sandbar had green boots and green spikes. His saddle was purple, showing he was the favored mount of Violet, guardian of Starworld. Mallow had Mel, his cloud. They soon left Solarsky, and entered the open moorland. Sunfire stopped.

"Lets go, Sunfire!" Luigi ordered, trying to nudge the female forward. She refused, tossing her head, and snorting.

"Translation, Ew! No! Its wet and muddy out there!" Sandbar translated.

Not all Yoshies could speak the human language. Spitfire and Sunfire both couldn't speak the human language. Sandbar was one of the few that could speak the human language.

"We don't have time for this, Sunfire! Move forward already! See, Sandbar and Spitfire are having no trouble with it." Luigi reasoned with the stubborn dino. Sunfire took two steps backward, and shook herself vigorously, nearly sending Luigi flying. Luigi managed to stay in the saddle by pure luck and skill. He dismounted, and walked the yoshi out into the infertile plains, and remounted.

"You want to fly?" Luigi asked.

Sunfire responded by taking a running leap into the air, and with a flap of her wings, began to fly. They caught up to the others. Solance was leading a limping Spitfire.

"There you are, Luigi! I was beginning to wonder where you were!" Wario called up, "Spitfire got bitten by Chomper in the leg. Its not too bad, but it will need to be looked at by a vet once we reach Crescent Outpost."

"Sunfire hates the mud!" Luigi couldn't help but scream as Sunfire dove down, and landed gracefully on the ground. They walked in silence.

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Overhead, in the clouds, the three big cats watched, and plotted.

"Here is the plan. Darkmoon, call in the fog. Darkstar, keep the others busy with your nightmare attacks, and I will take care of the green one with a special nightmare attack." Darksun said.

Darkmoon looked up at the sky, and opened her mouth. She let out a long, mournful wail, and the fog began to roll in. Darkmoon wailed louder, rising and falling with perfect pitch. The fog grew thicker. She smiled evilly. Both Darksun and Darkmoon disappeared into the thick fog.

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Luigi was riding along, enjoying the cool breeze on his face, when the fog rolled in. It had become so thick that Luigi pulled up Sunfire, unable to see more then a foot in front of himself. Sunfire gave a nervous snort.

"Its okay, Sunfire. Its okay, girl." Luigi soothed the yoshi.

He felt himself getting nervous. Then, he heard a low wail. Sunfire snorted, her light colored eyes rolling in fear. The wail grew louder, and more mournful. Luigi felt his heart pounding against his rib cage. He wished Mario were with him. Sunfire shivered. Luigi felt the yoshi's muscles tense up, and experience told him to brace himself. He felt Sunfire shaking herself, and it was all he could do to hold on.

"Easy, Sunfire!" Luigi cried, "Easy dose it, now."

(_I scared, Master._)

Luigi jumped a mile and lost his stirrups as his mind registered the fact his Yoshi had used telepathy to talk to him.

"S-Sunfire, did y-you just u-use telepathy? P-please tell m-me it w-was you!" Luigi cried, panicking now.

(_It me who talk, Master. I talk, only you hear. Telepathy?_) Sunfire asked.

"Sunfire, yes, that is telepathy." Luigi said.

Suddenly, another fresh wail broke out. Luigi felt chills traveling up and down his spine, and Sunfire tossed her head, prancing nervously. She shook herself, surprising Luigi, who was midair before his brain registered the fact he was no longer sitting astride the yoshi. He hit the ground hard on his left shoulder, and heard a resounding crack as the bone snapped. He felt a sudden blast of pain seconds later, as his arm hung uselessly at his side, the shoulder no longer intact. Luigi looked up, a scream dying on his lips as a winged flaming lion crept up to him. The last thing he heard was the scream of a yoshi, and the roar of the lion as it came under attack by the yoshi. Warm darkness came down on him.

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**Queen Sunstar: I know, not a cliff hanger. (Ducks behind wall as arrows start flying) My boss changed my shift to where I'm no longer getting a three hour break during naptime. Instead, my break is from three to five, after naptime. This take effect next week, on Monday. I will still be working on the story. My update times may be delayed a few days.**

**Twila: Review, please! **


	12. Crescent Outpost

**Queen Sunstar: here is the next chapter, but before I begin, let me respond to an anonymous review.**

**Unkown One (): Thanks for your review. I'm glad you are liking the story.**

**Twila: Its our first anonymous review! Queen Sunstar owns the story, and some of its characters like Solance. Nintendo owns everything else, including me.**

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Sunlight filtered through the window. Luigi felt its warmth on his face, as he stirred and woke up. Pain shot through his left shoulder as he tried to sit up.

"I would lay still, if I were you, Luigi." someone said.

Luigi turned his head, and his eyes rested on a Parakoopa Troopa wearing a periwinkle blue shell with the marking of a sun on it, showing he was from Skyland. Its wings were more dragonic.

"Who are you, and where am I?" Luigi asked.

"I am Dr. Ludwise McKonic, and I am a Dragonblood. You are in my clinic, here in Crescent Outpost." Dr. McKonic said.

"We made it? Where is Sunfire, my yoshi?" Luigi asked, dreading the answer.

"She is out in the stables with the others. I assume You will want to see your traveling companions again." Dr. McKonic opened the door, and yelled something in Dragonese to a nurse. Seconds later, Wario, Solance, Geno, and Mallow came in.

"Luigi, you had us worried." Solance said.

"How badly hurt is Sunfire?" Luigi asked, feeling like something was wrong.

"Luigi, Sunfire is fine. Why do you ask?" Mallow asked.

"She fought a lion to protect me." Luigi said.

"Luigi, that was three days ago. Sunfire had no marks on her body the fight. There is something else. She is not a Pegi, but a Winged Uni." Geno said.

A pegi is a yoshi with wings, while a Uni is a yoshi with a horn. A winged Uni is a yoshi with both a horn and wings. Starstone was rumored to be the only one.

"Starstone is the only one, Geno." Luigi started, as it finally dawned on him who Sunfire was, "Wait a minute! She is my partner, in the egg I received five years ago!"

"Luigi, it has been confirmed that there are five Winged Uni's left in this world." Geno said, "Starstone, Sunfire, Silverblade, Starflyer, and Oceanstone are all winged Uni's."

"I see." Luigi looked down at his injured shoulder, and winced, "What happened to my shoulder?"

"You dislocated the joint, and fractured the bone directly under the joint. I inserted screws into the bone to hold it together while it heals, and I had to surgically reattach your shoulder back into its socket." Dr. McKonic answered.

"How bad is the delay gong to be?" Luigi asked.

"It should take no more then eight weeks for you to heal fully." Dr. McKonic said.

"We can't wait that long! Our mission is a mater of worldwide security!" Luigi cried.

"Who said you had to stay here for those eight weeks? I'm going to do phase two of repairing your arm in a few hours. What is going to happen is that I'm going to go put a metal cuff around the fracture to keep it still so it can heal. Here is the cuff." Dr. McKonic said, hold up a wide metal strip with four short metal strips, two on each end, sticking out of it. "Yes, it looks barbaric, but it is effective. You wont need a cast."

"Lets do it, then." Luigi said.

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Darksun's tail lashed about. His fiery mane and tail tip burned in rage. Darkmoon continued to lick the lions injured sides.

"Who knew that the yoshi was a winged Uni!" Darkstar growled, walking into the cave.

"That whelp was more powerful then we thought. This next plan we try, one of my own, has no chance of failure. We will attack as one. That yoshi must fall." Darkmoon purred.

"Darkmoon, good plan. We come at her from all angles." Darksun raised his head.

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I use my nightmare attack? Please? Its pretty powerful! Really! It is!" Darkstar cried, bouncing around.

"Darkstar, settle down. You sound like a kid with ADHD." Darksun growled.

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It was night when Luigi woke again. His left arm felt heavy and stiff. He didn't stay awake long. While Luigi slept, Sunfire paced her stall. She was nervous. Something was out there, and her danger sense was tickling. Behind her, Darkmoon hissed. Sunfire spun around, and tried to ram the she-tiger, but wound up getting her horn stuck in the wood of her stall. In the stall next to her, his left leg bandaged, Spitfire raised a sleepy head.

(Sunfire, what wrong?) the red yoshi asked.

(tiger monster!) Sunfire answered, still trying to work her horn free.

(There no tiger monster. You sleepy.) Spitfire responded, curling up on his straw mat.

(I winged Uni, now! I protect master!) Sunfire pulled her horn free, and turned to see Darkmoon, again. She made her horn glow, and let off a weak lightening attack at Darkmoon, who vanished. Darkstar dropped in from overhead, while Darksun came in from her right. Sunfire backed up into a corner, and hit Darkmoon. All three cats lunged at the winged Uni, who let off a shrill screech of distress. Suddenly, Sandbar appeared with Spitfire and two other Uni's. they drove off the three cats. Sunfire sank to the floor, her chest, back, and wings scratched and bloody.

(Sunfire, you okay?) Sandbar asked, speaking in yoshi.

(I be fine by morning. Need sleep.) Sunfire spoke, curling up in the hay.

Sandbar nodded to the two Uni's, who returned to their stall. Spitfire and Sandbar settled down next to the wounded female, and began to lick her injuries clean.

Morning came, and Luigi, followed by Wario, Solance, and Geno, entered the barn. Wario went over to the stall containing the two chain chomps, and fed them. Solance went to his yoshi, and found him in Sunfires stall. Luigi joined him wordlessly.

"Sandbar, what happened last night?" Geno asked, joining them, after finding his yoshi inside Sunfires stall, "Or do we need to know?"

"Sunfire got attacked last night." Sandbar stood, and shook himself.

"Sunfire, are you okay?" Luigi called, his voice filled with worry.

(I okay.) The female yoshi responded, rising and walking over to the stall door. Luigi petted her nose, and looked her over. She looked fine, other then the few scratches on her sides. The scratches were nearly healed.

"good. We leave tomorrow morning for Sky Heights. There, we will cross the Ravaged Ravine, and move on to the fault." Luigi explained, "We are going to go gather up any more supplies, and stock up on items and food." Luigi stepped back so Geno and Solance could feed the yoshies.

Outside, Luigi decided to do some exploring. The Outpost was more like a small city then an actual military establishment. It was shaped like a crescent. Luigi found himself inside a park. He could hear Koopalings, Yoshlings, and toad kids playing on a slide and jungle gym near by. Brightstar was out, shining in the sky, and it was pleasantly warm. Luigi sat alone on a bench, and listened to the sounds around him.

'_If I fail, They will never be this carefree, or this happy, again. I promise, I will do everything I possibly can to bring down the Daybreaker._' Luigi smiled to himself, taking a few minutes to relax.

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"Where is Eldstar?" Misstar asked for the umpteenth time.

"He is just running late." Muskular tried to soothe the older female spirit.

The five remaining Stars had gathered inside the high council champers of Eldstars Haven. Before them, the Star Rod glowed softly. Two chairs were empty. One of them was the seat of Kalmar, and the other was the seat of Eldstar. A chime sounded, as Twink, son of Kalmar, winked in.

"There is no sign of Eldstar on the planet below. I went ahead and called down Twilus, who reported that Eldstar is not on the other side, ether." the star kid said.

"Thanks, Twink. Why don't you go take your fathers seat for this meeting?" Misstar asked, directing the star kid to the seat of Kalmar, "As I am the second in command, I call this meeting to order."

At that moment, Spectra, Leader of the five weapon beasts, warped into the room. Spectra was a giant scepter. He had a golden shaft, with a red ruby on top of his head. He had a mustache much like Skolars.

"**I will sit in for Eldstar.**" Spectra said, hovering in front of the seat of Eldstar.

"Okay. We can't wait any longer." Misstar said.

"What do you mean?" Twink asked.

"**Twink, it would be better if you didn't know. I agree with Misstar. We have to do something.**" Spectra said.

"Do we have any other options?" Klevar asked.

"I'm afraid not, Klevar. All in favor, say aye." Misstar said.

"Wait! I'm hopelessly lost, here! What is going to happen?" Twink asked.

"This could easily backfire." Skolar brought up, ignoring Twinks question.

"Hello! A little clarification would be nice!" Twink cried, again.

"Twink, come with me." Misstar rose, and beckoned the young star to follow. Twink fell instep next to her.

"Well? I'm waiting!" Twink said after a few minutes of silence.

"Twink, what I am about to tell you, you must promise, you will never tell a single soul about this." Misstar said, walking out onto a balcony.

"I promise." Twink said.

"Good. Ages ago, the former council of seven met in that room to make a decision about Solon's beast form. They decided to take it from him and lock it away. We came along, and decided to give it to Brighton temporarily some time ago. We took it back, and now, it is awake. Meet Firegod, Twink." Misstar clapped her hands, causing the room to light up.

Below them, trapped inside a glowing golden ball, was the out line of a red and gold dragon. Its claws, horns, and spiked tail were gold, and its wings were gold. Its scales started out golden, and darkened to red. Its body twitched every now and then, showing that it was reawakening from its long slumber.

"We are going to decide whether or not to give it to Luigi. It may be the only thing that can stop the Daybreaker. Lets go back. The others are waiting." Misstar winked them both back.

"**I have given each of us a piece of paper, and a pen. Write yes, or no on the paper to vote. Here is the question. Do we give Luigi the power to evolve from Brightsun into Firegod? Vote now.**" Spectra said, making his vote on the paper. He collected the papers, began to tally up the votes. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the answer.

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**Queen Sunstar: Next weeks update will be late. My cat, Licorice, goes in for surgery on Friday, and he is going to need constant care for the next several days. So what I am going to do is update next on April 9th. Sorry for the two week wait, but I am the only one who the cat will tolerate.**

**Twila: Review, please, and we would like to thank nrhk16, Luigi rules 512, Elite Wizzerd, and Unkown One for their reviews! Reviews make us very happy, so feel free to review! **


	13. Crisis at the Ravine

**Queen Sunstar: Sorry for the delay. My cat, Licorice, had a tumor removed from behind his ear, and I have had very little time to squeeze out on the computer. Last week was Spring Break, which means I lost my three hour break at the Daycare where I work. I had to take the school aged kids down to the basement playroom for the duration of naptime. My break was from three to five. **

**Twila: I am not going to say the usual disclaimer. You should know by now that Queen Sunstar owns only the story, and her own characters, like Solance.**

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"**The votes are in. It was unanimous. We don't give Luigi the ability to become Firegod.**" Spectra announced.

"Dose anyone have any comments to add to this?" Misstar asked.

"I don't think Luigi would have been able to control Firegod. Brighton lost control, and look at what happened." Skolar said.

"Firegod is very powerful. If Luigi were much stronger, and less afraid of everything, he might stand a chance of controlling Firegod." Mamar said, "I voted no for those reasons."

TWOOM!

The ground shook as an explosion ripped through the protective barrier surrounding the sanctuary. It dissolved, and another explosion took out a section of the left wall. The Daybreaker entered the building, and each step brought him closer to the remaining Star Spirits.

"Twink! Orb out to Brighton!" Skolar screamed, "Spectra, go! We stars will fight!"

"**No! I'll stay and fight! I can handle the Daybreaker!**" Spectra screamed.

"No you can't!" Klevar yelled.

The Daybreaker arrived into the room. Spectra's ruby glowed as he began charging power for an attack, but he never got to use it. Waluigi raised his left hand, and silvery light shot out of it. It slammed into Spectra, who screamed. His body cracked badly, and as the second hit landed, he warped out.

"Spectra is no push over! He defeated Spectra!" Misstar screamed.

"Star Storm!" Skolar screamed, causing it to rain stars on Waluigi.

The Daybreaker glowed, and Skolar screamed as his own attack was turned on him. He went down, and Klevar and Muskular tag team attacked the Daybreaker themselves. The same thing happened to them. Mamar glowed, charging power.

"Strike of the gold star!" Misstar cried, finally nailing an attack on Waluigi. He struck out with a water based attack, and she went down, giving Mamar the opening she needed.

"Heavens Light! Smash!" Mamar screamed.

White light formed at each of her points, and merged mid-flight. The powerful attack flew toward Waluigi, who merely raised his hand, and bent it back at her. The attack broke apart, hit her, and the downed Star Spirits. They all screamed in agony, and fell silent.

"Finally… they were harder to bring down then I thought." Waluigi muttered, taking them aboard the Blade, and locking them up. He stepped out onto the deck, and looked down at Earth.

"Now, time to catch the last three Celestial Guardians, and bring my plan to fruition! I can't believe they bought the story about me brining back Dark Utopia! I have even better fish to fry!" Waluigi growled to himself, staring down at Earth scornfully.

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"How are you feeling, Brighton?" Twila walked into the bedroom. Brighton had been discharged from the hospital two days ago.

"I'm doing great, no pain, yet, anyway." Brighton said, looking up from a pile of bills, "I had Shalom bring me my paperwork. Who says I can't make a dent in the paperwork while I'm bedridden?" He was wearing his reading glasses, which for Twila, was a turn on.

"I see." Twila picked up a bill and read through it, "You actually understand the legislative talk?" She arched an eyebrow. Brighton only smiled.

"I have to be able to make sense of the legislative language in order to be a good ruler to Skyland, dear." Brighton said.

"Can you sense where Luigi is?" Twila asked a few minutes later. She was now lounging on her side of the bed, watching Brighton work. He was used to this, and he looked up at her again.

"Luigi has left Crescent Outpost, and is now about to arrive at the ravine." Brighton answered, his eyes closed in concentration, "Why? You are not feeling the arrival of an earthquake, are you?"

Twila nodded, "It will be centered around the ravine. I can't tell how strong it is."

"Luigi has Solance, and Wario, with him. He'll be fine." Brighton said, reassuringly. Twila still worried.

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"Good to see you up and walking, Mario." Roy said, walking out on to the balcony overlooking the Koopalin fields of lava, one of the seven wonders of the world. Another of the seven wonders, the Fire Root, a popular Koopalin delicacy, grew only in the lava fields. Mario turned to Roy.

"I'm fine, just dandy, thanks to good ole Vicodin!" Mario slurred.

"Two things, how many of those pills did you take, and with what?" Roy asked, realizing that somebody had done something to Mario's usual pill cocktail, and he had a suspicion of who the who was, too.

"I took the usual amount!" Mario sang out.

"Here, let me take you inside, and have Kamick deal with you, while I go and have a word with Paratroopa to confirm my suspicion over who did this to you." Roy said, leading Mario back inside the castle.

"What did Ludwig do to you?" Kamick asked, taking Mario off of Roy's hands, "Roy, you have my permission to go find and bring me Ludwig, and you can use what ever force necessary. I'll be with Mario, slowly counterbalancing the effects of the Vicodin in Mario's body."

"I'm on it. I just need to find Paratroopa." Roy stalked off.

He went out into the hallway, making sure to respond to the bows and greetings from the servants cleaning the castle. He found his younger step brother down in Kamicks Lab. Kamick loved botany, and had created Petey Piranha, and had succeeded in creating Piranha Plants that breathed balls of ice instead of fire. He was in the process of creating the ultimate Piranha Plant. Paratroopa had been given the duty of feeding Kamicks creations. He was coxing a shy female to eat the fuzzy he was holding out to it when Roy pounced him. The Piranha Plant squeaked and tucked back into its pipe.

"Roy! I had almost got her to eat! Kamick is worried about her!" Paratroopa squawked, his voice being drown out by Petey, lowing for his dinner.

"Tell me!" Roy screamed, lifting his step brother up by his neck, and holding him up against the wall, "Who slipped the alcohol to Mario?"

"I…Do…nt…know…ca…nt…bre…athe!" Paratroopa wheezed, struggling to get out of Roy's iron grip, "Did…you…ha…ve…to…in…her…rit…King…Step … Dad's…iron…grip?"

Roy dropped Paratroopa, and rose to his full height. He looked down at Paratroopa, burning a fireball in his throat to make steam pour out of his nostrils for a creepier, more intimidating effect. This would also cause flames to shoot out of his mouth when he talked.

"I will give you five minutes to tell me who did it, or you can kiss those big, beautiful, glossy, adult wings of yours good bye!" Roy ordered, he began to count down minutes, "Four! Three! Two! One!"

Paratroopa told Roy everything. Roy left him to finish feeding the rest of Kamicks creations minutes later. He stopped by Morton JR's room and talked him into lending a hand. The two brothers walked toward Ludwig's room, next. Along the way, they met up with Iggy, Larry, and Lemmy, who all agreed to help, once they heard what Roy had to say about what Kamick told him. The brothers reached Ludwig's room, and went inside.

"Yes?" Ludwig asked.

"You are toast, brother!" Iggy spat out, "Lets get him!"

"Wait, Iggy! Not yet!" Larry cried, "Let Roy explain why we are here!"

"Ludwig, I found a slobbering, very drunk Mario, who King Dad promised Lady Twila that he would care for, out on the balcony. Did you, or didn't you slip Mario some alcohol to take his pills with?" Roy asked, burning a fireball to make steam come out of his nostrils.

"Would I ever do something that evil?" Ludwig smiled nervously.

"LUDWIG!" Morton screamed.

"Remember the bomb-omb in King Dads toilet gag you did years ago? How about rigging the Clown Copter to dump King Dad out back when he first met Step Momma? What about the day you rigged all of the castles Thwimps, Thwomps, Mega Thwomps, and Womps to attack everything in sight, and that one Thwimp wouldn't stop loving King Dads statue of himself out in the front hall? Should I go on?" Iggy asked, realizing that his brothers, minus Ludwig, who was beat red, were rolling on the floor in fits of laughter.

"Everybody thought the Thwimp was gay, remember?" Lemmy cracked up all over again.

"When I do practical jokes, I do a lot worse then make Mario go drunk." Ludwig chuckled nervously. He was still blushing beat red.

"How about the time He turned Petey pink!" Iggy roared, laughing.

"Or the time he shrunk Kamicks robe, and it barely covered everything!" Roy called out between bouts of laughter.

"How about the invisible stair gag on King Dad, at his first romantic dinner with Step Momma!" Larry screeched.

Ludwig screamed, and ran out of his own bedroom, right into the waiting arms of Kamick, who was wearing the shrunken robe. He screamed again, but before he could try to escape, he was sitting on Kamicks broomstick, unable to move, due to an immobility spell cast by Kamick. Unfortunately, he was facing Kamick.

"We are off to the Throne room, to face the wrath of Bowser, mister! You could have harmed Mario!" Kamick kicked his broom into gear, and took Ludwig for a ride through the castle. The minute they heard Kamicks broom speed off, the other Koopalings met up with a still laughing Paratroopa in the secret passage to the throne room.

"So far so good!" Roy cackled, "Mario is one good actor! He nearly had me fooled!"

"Lets get moving, before Kamick beat us to the throne room!" Morton still had tears of laughter running down his face. The Koopalings scampered down the passage into the throne room, where Wendy, Bowser JR, and Eleanor had spent the morning, decorating for the surprise. Bowser and Mario were already there, waiting, as was Kammy, and some of the more important members of the Koopa Troop. They waited, and a few minutes later, Kamick came through the doors with Ludwig in tow.

"APRIL FOOLS, LUDWIG!" Everyone called out.

Ludwig's jaw dropped open, and he blushed an even deeper shade of red.

"That was an April Fools joke on me?" Ludwig asked, "I'm the one who usually pulls the prank on you guys!"

Bowser smiled, "We know, so this year, We planned this all out to finally get one over you. Enjoy the party, Ludwig."

"I gotta ask one thing. Who came up with the idea? I didn't suspect a thing." Ludwig said, climbing off of Kamicks broomstick once he could move.

"It started out as one of Koopas ideas." Morton said, a hint of sadness in his voice. He had found a friend in Koopa, and had grieved with Eleanor and Bowser, when Koopa died in the accident.

"Then Lemmy and Larry worked on it." Iggy added.

"Larry brought us all in on it, except you, and I'm surprised that Bowser JR managed to keep his mouth shut about it." Kamick finished, "Mario was the last one. The acting hopelessly drunk thing was his own addition."

"You mean Mario faked being drunk?" Ludwig asked.

"Yep, I watched you switch drinks this morning, when I was due to take my next pills. I dumped out your solution, and used water, instead." Mario said, chuckling, "Even I didn't know I was that good of an actor."

As they enjoyed the party, Luigi, in Skyland, was about to run into a major problem.

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Luigi checked to make sure his bags were packed, and loaded into the back of the wagon. It was morning, and he was anxious to mount Sunfire, and get moving, again. He felt the reassuring weight of the Sunstone around his neck. At that moment, Dr. McKonic ran outside of the clinic.

"Hold on, fellers! You will need someone who speaks Dragonese with you, so I'm coming along!" the doctor called.

"Sure, come along!" Luigi called.

They stopped, so McKonic could catch up. He dropped his bags off in the wagon, and chose to fly overhead. The party moved out. They left Crescent Outpost behind. Luigi found himself relaxing, enjoying the warm sunlight, cast by Solarton, on his face. His arm felt great. Mallow was giving Mel a rest, and was riding in the wagon, which Wario was driving. Geno and Solance were still Yoshiback ridding, as was Luigi. Just then, there was a squawk, as McKonic fought off a Parakoopa Troopa. The battle was pretty much one sided, as McKonic vanquished the enemy, with a one hit. They moved on, vanquishing the enemies as they came. It was near dark when they reached the Ragged Ravine.

The Ragged Ravine nearly cut Skyland in half. As Luigi looked down into the ravine, he noticed large metal poles running through it. He saw blue, and it took him a few minutes to realize he was seeing blue sky.

"What's with the pipes down there?" Luigi asked.

"This ravine is the result of an explosion of a nuclear bob-omb. Those pipes are what's keeping both halves of Skyland together. The Remina Fault is the same way." Solance answered, "I was the one who pushed for them to be installed. They are maintained by a colony of aerial Monty Moles."

"How do we get across?" Wario asked.

"There was supposed to be a bridge here, but I don't see it. Luigi, Mallow, and the doctor can fly across, I'll warp the rest across." Solance said.

"What are we waiting for?" Geno asked, "Lets get moving."

No sooner had the words left his mouth, when the ground heaved violently. Sunfire half reared in panic, and Wario let out a blood curling shriek. Both of the Chain Chomps had bolted, and were racing in a blind panic, toward the edge of the Ravine. Solance screamed something, and urged his yoshi into a gallop after the runaway wagon. Luigi worked on calming Sunfire down. Geno raced after Solance, and Wario bellowed out the Italian command for stop, and every Italian swear word he knew at the Chain Chomps. Suddenly, Sunfire rocketed forward, nearly unseating Luigi, who grabbed a handful of spikes to stay on. Overhead, McKonic dove down in front of the Chain Chomps, causing them to rear, and bolt away from him. That bought enough time for Solance and Geno to catch up, and ride in front of the Chain Chomps, forcing them to slow down. They finally stopped, panting, their eyes wild with fear. The ground stopped moving, and Luigi caught up to them. He pulled Sunfire into a full stop.

"Everybody okay?" Luigi asked.

"Yeah." Solance, Geno, and McKonic chorused.

"I'm fine," Came Mallows voice from behind Wario.

"I'm okay. I never want to go through that again." Wario said.

There was a low groan, and they all turned to face the Ravine. Dust rose from its maw, and Solance levitated himself to look inside the Ravine.

"Bad news! Some of the metal pipes have ruptured in the quake, and the pressure is forcing the Ravine to open wider. We need someone to go wield the pipes back together." Solance turned to Luigi, "And you are a plumber, Luigi. Its up to you!"

"But I'm scared of heights! And I don't levitate!" Luigi cried.

"Who said anything about levitating, Luigi? You ride a winged Yoshi. Use her, and if the ravine opens wider, the land on the other side of the ravine will break away from Skyland, and fall down to the Earth below! We are currently in Mushroom Kingdom airspace!" Solance reasoned.

"I… uh… Okay. I'm going." Luigi said, "Let me go Brightsun first."

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**Queen Sunstar: It is now official. Critical is my longest story yet.**

**Twila: Remember to review, now!**


	14. The Hellhound Revived

"You ready, Luigi?" Solance called.

"Yes, I'm ready, and when I go solar, its Brightsun!" Luigi called back up.

Luigi was inside the ravine, on Sunfire, who was hovering under the ruptured pipe. Solance and Wario were up on the lip, right hands glowing, preparing to pull the other side of the ravine closer to their side. Geno, McKonic, and Mallow stayed with the still frightened chain chomps.

"lets do this, then!" Wario called.

He and Solance focused on the far side of the ravine, and Luigi set his left hand on fire. Inch by slow inch, the ravine began to close up. Luigi went from ruptured pipe to ruptured pipe, melting them back together. He rejoined them once his task was done. The Ravine held perfectly.

"We prevented a major disaster." Solance said, "Now, lets move on."

They camped out in the plains on the other side of the Ravine. For the next three days, they pushed westward, moving closer to the distant mountains.

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Daisy had always believed that nothing could harm the gentle star spirits. She was currently sharing a cell with Misstar and Mamar. They were still knocked out cold.

"If Waluigi plans to bring back Dark Utopia, He wouldn't need Daisy, Peach, Rose, and Violet, Sire." Kalmar said, sharing his cell with Skolar and a silent Peach.

"I know, Kalmar. I've been trying to figure that out myself." Eldstar said. He had Klevar, and Muskular with him. Rose and Violet had their own cell.

"Oh shroot! How could we have been so stupid? Its not Dark Utopia he is after! Shroot!" Kalmar cried out, as realization hit him.

"Kalmar, watch the language! What did you figure out?" Eldstars voice rose in a panic.

"He is after the ninth star spirit!" Kalmar cried.

"Ninth star sprit?" Daisy asked.

"no, not the ninth! We can't go through that, again!" Eldstar cried, hyperventilating, now.

"Who is the ninth?" Peach spoke up.

"Eldstar, breathe! Calm down! Peach, the ninth is no one you need to know about!" Kalmar shouted.

"Oww!" Daisy cried out, her eyes closed. A vision flashed before her closed eyes. She saw what looked like Peach, Rose, and Violet battling it out with a dark star spirit. She saw them fall, and screamed.

"Daisy, what is it?" Rose screamed.

"I just saw your past selves die fighting the ninth." Daisy answered.

"Eldstar, talk. Who and what is the ninth spirit?" Violet asked, completely calm.

"Zarthose, guardian of the ancient rule book, watches over the ninth. Long ago, there was nine of us, but the ninth turned evil. It took the ultimate sacrifice of the Starborn Hero to damage him badly enough so we remaining eight could fight him. It was Zarthoses seal that trapped him, and the star rod being powered by an entire world wishing the ninth gone before we finally locked him away. Zarthose left us a while later to go live inside the Earth. He is the one who must perform an ancient spell each Lunar Cycle to keep his seal strong." Eldstar explained. He still looked terrified.

"What is the Starborn Hero?" Rose asked.

"He is a hero born of the stars, with solar and lunar blood running through him. The last one was Twilus, who died the day the Daybreaker stole his body." Kalmar explained.

"Who would be the next Starborn Hero?" this time, it was Violet.

"If it is not Brighton, it would be Luigi." Misstar said, awake now.

"Hold it! Brighton is a sun, and he has the blood of a sun and a moon in him, and Luigi is the same way! Nether of them have star blood in them!" Eldstar pointed out.

"Eldstar, their star blood comes from you! Remember you daughter, Solarita? She and Twilus had Solaris and Solan, and Solaris is Brighton's father, and Brighton is Luigi's father!" Misstar pointed out.

Eldstar opened his mouth to reply, but thought better of it. At that moment, Waluigi entered the hold, being flanked by Darksun, Darkmoon, and Darkstar. He wordlessly rounded up the four human women, and marched them out of the room. The cats stayed behind, eyeing the star spirits warily. Waluigi took the women into a dark room.

"The time has come, ladies. You are the ones I have been searching for. Your blood is my key in reviving the Hellhound! I have bigger fish to fry, and I need the Hellhound to do it!" Waluigi lifted his right hand, index finger and middle finger out, and tilted his hand in an upward motion. The Guardian and the Princesses wound up with their backs against the wall, unable to move. Waluigi slit their wrists, forcing them to bleed over a dark colored stone. Then their wrists healed, but they were still stuck to the wall.

The stone glowed darkly, and began to spin. Above it, a dark purple cloud formed. A shadow seeped into the room, and rose, forming the traditional shape of a sun. This sun was black, with two silver horns where the third, and fifteenth spike would have been. His eyes were red, and he had a third, red snakelike eye above his two normal eyes. Waluigi bowed.

"Welcome back, Master." the Daybreaker said.

"Daybreaker, its good to be back. How goes the plan to free Sinistar, the Ninth Star Spirit?" the Hellhound asked.

"I have the seven Star spirits, but I have had no luck in locating the shadow star spirit, Zarthose." Waluigi responded.

"Relock up the women, Daybreaker." the Hellhound snarled, "and make sure they don't escape."

"Yes, Master." Waluigi flicked his wrist, forcing the women to follow him back to their cells. He flicked his left index finger, sending them flying into their cages. Violet climbed to her feet, and went to the bars of her cell.

"Waluigi! Fight back! I know you are in there, my Wally. Please, fight back for your body! You are the one in control, not the Daybreaker!" Violet screamed, "We are your friends, remember?"

"Violet, you do not understand. The Waluigi you new is gone, and will never come back. I am Waluigi now." the Daybreaker responded, taking a step toward Violet.

"The Waluigi I know would be fighting desperately to get his body back! He's fed you lies, Waluigi! You are not the Daybreaker! He died at the hand of your father, Brighton! Fight back, Waluigi!" Violet cried, sensing she may be getting through to the one she loved.

"Enough of this, Violet! The Waluigi you knew saw the truth of who he really is! He and I are one, and the same!" Waluigi answered coolly. He walked away from them.

"Sorry, guys, I tried." Violet whispered, shrinking back from the bars of her cell.

"Its okay, Vi. Waluigi just needs a good ole wack in the head from Wario to bring him back to his senses." Peach said.

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'_Is what Violet said true? Have I let the Daybreaker feed me lies?_' Waluigi thought.

He realized he was standing in the same desert scene from before. The soothing warm light was back, but it was very weak.

"That light was brighter before. What happened to it?" Waluigi looked down to see his body slowly turning gray, "What is happening to me?"

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Brighton jerked suddenly, causing pain to surge through his chest. His left hand went up to his chest, as his eyes opened wide, as he sensed Waluigi's turmoil. His spikes stood on end, and his breathing came in harsh gasps. Twila sat up from the pullout couch on the other side of the room. She was using the pullout while Brighton recovered from his injuries.

"Brighton? You okay?" She called out tiredly.

"Waluigi... He is losing his fight!" Brighton cried.

Twila got up, and went to her husband. By now, Brighton was sitting up all the way, and his eyes were glowing crimson, showing that he was in distress. Twila gently placed her hand on his shoulder, and eased him back down onto the bed.

"Brighton, calm down. You are going to rip out your stitches if you keep moving around so much!" Twila said, noticing the spots of blood on the soft cream colored bed sheets. She peeled the sheets back to see Brightons left hand covering a slowly growing bloodstain on his yellow pajama top. She undid the buttons, and carefully peeled back the left side of the shirt to reveal the Brighton's stitches had been ripped out.

"Oh dear! Brighton, you've managed to rip out your stitches!" Twila reached over to the wall, and hit the intercom, "Shalom, go wake Dr. Katrina, and tell her to step on it! Brighton has managed to rip out his stitches!"

"I'm on it, Milady." Shalom responded, slipping quickly into his butler uniform, and leaving his room. He headed down the hallway toward the stairway, and ran down to the first floor. He went over to the phone room, and knocked. A sleepy eyed toad in a twilight blue security uniform with an imprint of a pale yellow crescent on his back showing he was part of the night shift, and that he was a resident of Skyland, rolled down his window.

"Get a hold of Dr. Katrina! The Great Lord has ripped his stitches!" Shalom ordered.

"Yes, sir!" The toad replied, dialing a number on the phone. Shalom walked toward the huge double doors, and waited. Dr. Katrina entered the castle, and greeted Shalom with a quick nod. Katrina was a dragon winged Nokis, and was one of the last of her kind. She wore a doctors uniform over her usual periwinkle blue shell with the marking of a sun on it. She was in her middle ages, and had been the one who delivered Waluigi, Wario, Mario, and Luigi. She went straight to the bedroom.

"Milady, I need you to step back so I can work. Lets see, Brighton, I'm going to give you a shot that will take away your pain, okay?" Dr. Katrina asked.

"I can deal with the pain!" Brighton cried.

"Okay, then hold still." Dr. Katrina dipped a sterile cleaning pad into a bowlful of Hydrogen Peroxide, and used it to clean up the incision site. Brighton bit his lip to keep from screaming, and waking half the castle.

"Your incision has been reopened, and it is infected. I'm going to put in a drain, and reclose it. You sure you don't want the painkiller?" Katrina asked, arching an eyebrow. She already knew what the answer would be.

"I'm fine." Brighton replied.

Katrina finished up with the last two stitches, making sure the drain stayed in place. She cleaned up the blood, and closed her medical bag with a snap, and turned to Twila.

"Make sure he stays quiet, and I'm prescribing a topical antibiotic for the infection. It is a cream, use it three times daily. Call me in seven days to come back and check the drain. For the drain, pat it gently with a washcloth every four hours." Katrina said, leaving.

Twila had everything written down on what she must do now.

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Luigi looked down at the ground below him from the edge of the Silent Bluffs. In the distance, he knew, was the Ghostly Forest, inside the Remina Fault. Beyond that, he knew, was Star Peak, and the key to defeat the Daybreaker for good. He turned back to Eerie Oasis, and rejoined his friends.

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**Queen Sunstar: Sorry I'm so late! I had trouble uploading a chapter of my other story, and it wouldn't let me post for five days in a row. This will account for this week, and Monday of next weeks post. **

**Twila: Don't forget to review, now!**


	15. Discovery of the Daybreakers Plan

**Queen Sunstar: I don't know for sure how long Critical is going to be, but I can say it will be close to 17 chapters long, if not longer. Once this one is done, I'm going to work on my other story on this site, and spend time on my third story on my web page, and my fourth story on another web site. Once those are done, I plan to start on two new ideas here on this site.**

**Twila: insert long, and hideously boring disclaimer here.**

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The day exploded into a fresh new dawn. Luigi was the first to wake up, and walked down to the first floor of the inn for breakfast. Here at the oasis, the main language was Dragonese. Most of the civilians were Dragonic winged yoshies, and Parakoopa Troopas. The day before, Luigi saw a Dragonic winged paragoomba. He had noticed by now that most of Skylands residents had wings. Mckonic had told him that in one part of Skyland, butterfly winged goombas, and Parakoopa Troopas lived free, protected by the laws of the Great Lord himself. He was just finishing off a piece of toast when the rest of his party joined him. Mallow unrolled a map of the bluffs. He and Geno were arguing over something on the map.

"We need to cut across here, and drop down to here. It is our best and safest bet." Mallow reasoned.

"No, the safer way would be cutting through here." Geno shot back.

"Don't mind them. They have been at it all morning." Mckonic said, placing his order in perfect Dragonese. He had to order for Wario, and Mallow. Geno surprised everyone by ordering in perfect Dragonese, as did Solance.

"I'm a sun, and a sun must be able to speak every language on his planets." Solance said.

"Same thing goes for star guardians, except we must be able to speak every known language." Geno said, "Mallow, if we go that way, we will have to cross the rope bridge, and it is ancient!"

"Would you two stop fighting already? I've decided that I'll go ahead and warp the non flyers down to the ground. Those that fly will fly down." Solance said.

"Okay, the next stop is the Remina Fault, and Ghostly Forest. We should make it up to the edge of the forest tonight, and get through the forest tomorrow." Geno said.

"T-t-tomorrow? G-g-ghostly Forest?" Luigi asked.

"Luigi, you will be fine." Solance said.

"T-t-the place I-I-is crawling w-w-with boos! I h-h-hate boos!" Luigi couldn't keep his voice from trembling.

"Luigi, if you don't do this, the Daybreaker will win, and we can kiss our world good bye." Mallow said.

"I know, but is there away to go around the forest?" Luigi asked.

"There is no time." Geno explained, as their food arrived. Luigi had already finished his meal.

"You guys eat, and I'll go get the wagon packed and ready to go." Luigi said, still feeling afraid. He went out to the stable, and met up with Sunfire, his winged uni yoshi.

(_Master, you scared?_) Sunfire lowered her purple head, and nuzzled Luigi's hand fondly.

(_Yes, I'm scared. We have to travel through the Ghostly Forest tomorrow. Its full of boos, and I don't like boos._) Luigi responded, wondering how he was able to use telepathy.

(_Boos not scary. Angry Spitfire scary._) Sunfire said.

"Luigi, Sunfire is right. Boos aren't scary. Try this to help keep yourself calm. It is something that my mother taught me when I was young. Imagine something funny about your fear. It works." Sandbar said.

"I'll try that out." Luigi said.

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Solarton entered the secret chamber, and opened the chest sitting in the far corner to reveal the white gold winged Sunstone with a moon, and a star embedded in the face of the Sunstone. He turned toward the far wall, and took a deep breath. He raised the sunstone and whispered the two lines of ancient text. The wall slid open, and he walked through it. Behind him, the wall hissed closed. Lumin looked up. Solarton had used the secret passage to enter the CEU (Counter Evil Unit) headquarters, which was never a good sign.

"Overlord Solarton." He said.

"He is back." Solarton said.

"The Daybreaker?" a goomba asked.

"No. the other one." Solarton said.

"The Hellhound?" a black shelled Koopa Troopa asked, getting smacked by one of his own teammates, a wriggler.

"Shh! We are not to say that name, ever!" the wriggler hissed.

"You know what to do, my men! Lets get cracking!" Lumin called, standing by Solarton.

Once again, there was a mad scramble for a computer, which led to several fights that Lumin had to go straighten out. It grew silent has the sound of keyboards clicking away.

"I've got a hit!" a toad screamed.

Lumin was by his side in an instant, "Run it through the interface!"

"Darn! I lost the hit!" the toad cried minutes later.

"You did good, keep trying." Lumin encouraged.

This went on for a while.

"My hands went running off again! There go set number two, and three! Wah! Not you too, set four! I can't type with my feet!" the wriggler cried.

"I have a hit!" this came from a dragon winged black yoshi, "Running it through the interface now!"

Lumin joined him.

"Well?" the moon prompted.

"yes! Hellhound sighted with the Daybreaker! Their location, quadrant 2.1, coordinates, 567.3092! They are moving, so I'll try to stay with them!" the yoshi called.

"Goombob! Start plotting their course with the readouts from Dracut's (_pronounced draw-cute) _station! Zola, get me Beautron Power on the phone! I don't care if he is in bed! I need my top field agent with me!" Lumin ordered, "Tell him to get the other agents in gear!"

The ground chose then to shudder. Somebody shrieked in panic. Lumin managed to keep his emotionless mask on his face from crumbling. He took a deep breath to calm himself before addressing his team.

"Calm down. It was just an earthquake, guys! You know who is not emerging." Lumin called, as the main door opened, and seven agents came in. Lumin turned, and addressed the star in front of the other agents.

"Beau, I have a mission for you. I'm assigning you and two of your agents to go find and protect my nephew, Prince Luigi. He is our only hope to stop this madness." Lumin ordered.

"I chose Dawn, and Sparky." Beau indicated a yellow Dragonic winged yoshi female, and an electrified phantom, who both nodded their acknowledgement.

"Good, I'm assigning Pratt and Dugan to be the Overlords bodyguards. The Hellhound nearly defeated him the last time. Lastly, Lou, and Solana, you two are to go out to Clockwork Castle, and protect my brother, the Great Lord, and my sister in law, his Queen. The Daybreaker attacked him once, and will not hesitate to attack him again." Lumin ordered.

"Lumin, I appreciate the offer, but I don't think I need the extra protection." Solarton said.

"the Hellhound is dangerous, Sir. Let my agents protect you." Lumin said.

"I understand the fact that you are merely concerned, Lumin, so I'll allow your two agents to protect me." Solarton said, saving himself an argument.

Pratt stepped forward and parked himself on Solartons right. He was a black shelled Parakoopa Troopa with steel gray unfeeling eyes that swept around the room, searching out any enemies. His weapon of choice was a crossbow. Dugan (_Pronounced do-can) _took up position on Solartons left. He was a dark red shelled Nokis. His green eyes scanned the room, much like Pratt's had. His weapon of choice was a bow and arrows. Both men stayed silent. Lou, a green robed moon, and Solana, a periwinkle blue robed sun, both warped out to Clockwork Castle, where Twila had just received the memo about the development. She greeted the two agents, and had them sitting in chairs in the hallway, outside the bedroom. Beau and his two agents warped out to surprise Luigi.

"Lumin, sir, looking at my graph, I do not like what I am seeing! The Daybreaker is headed to Star peak!" Goombob called.

"What?" Lumin asked, moving over to the red skinned goomba. He read over the graph, and paled, "Oh no, are you sure this is where he is heading?"

"I doubled and triple checked, and I had Zola and Dracut cross check it twice. Its Star Peak." Goombob said.

"That is where Prince Luigi is heading." Lumin said.

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They had passed over the fault line the day before, and now stood at the entrance of Ghostly Forest. Luigi was flanked by all three of his bodyguards, each of them riding a yoshi. Beau had explained to him that he was there for his protection. Luigi felt better knowing that the star was right behind him, and would protect him from harm. They entered the forest, unknowing of the dangers that still lay ahead.

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**Queen Sunstar: before I forget, my update schedule has been messed up royal due to the fact my break is now from 3pm to 5pm, except for every other Tuesday, when my break is from 12:30 to 5:30. I will still try to keep up the weekly updates. **

**Twila: insert beg for reviews here. **


	16. Fall of the Harbringers of Darkness

Ghostly Forest lived up to its name, of being ghostly. Huge black trees, their branches bare, rose to meet the distant blue sky. A fog waffled between the trees. Leaves crunched underfoot. A slow moving wind sighed up in the treetops. The forest looked dry, as if it had not seen rain in a long time, which was true. Something howled mournfully in the distance.

"This place is creepy. Can't we go around it?" Luigi asked.

"There is no way." Geno said, "We will be through the forest by tomorrow night."

"Can't Solance warp us through it?" Luigi tried.

"I can't warp here because of the ghost charms in the trees. They suck your power right out of you." Solance explained.

"If I see a boo, I'm out of here." Luigi gulped nervously, and urged Sunfire forward. He stayed behind Beau, and focused on following the star.

"We get through here, and it's a half a day's trip to Star peak, and figuring out how to fight the Daybreaker." Mallow said.

Just then, an ear-piercing wail split the silence. Luigi could not stop the screams that came from his own throat. His eyes shot around the clearing, and he saw the pale blue boo with yellow eyes first. It had two dagger teeth on ether side of its mouth.

"Green Prince… must kill green Prince… yes, yes, yes…" The boo shot toward Luigi, who was frozen in terror.

"Geno beam!" Geno screamed, wand-blazing white.

"Thunderbolt!" Mallow called, adding his electricity to Genos beam of light.

"Here's a move I love! Earth Natural disaster!" Wario added his element to the attack.

"Fire is not my strong suit, so I'm going with Fireball frenzy!" Solance called, supplying fire to the attack.

"And don't forget me! I inherited a move or two from my dragonic ancestors! Spiritual Wave!" Mckonic called, adding his ghostly energy to the attack. Geno struggled to hold the attack.

"Let's give that attack a kick of star power! Shooting star rain!" Beau called, adding on the star power to the still growing attack.

"This thing may be a phantom like me, so here's some sparkling smash!" Sparky called. He was one of the three agents, like Beau, and Dawn.

"And don't forget me! Here's some Dragon Beam to remember me by!" Dawn called, "Sunfire, Spitfire, Sandbar, add your attacks now!"

(_I add Stardust Blast!_) Sunfire's horn glowed as she added her own attack to the mix.

"One Dream eater, coming right up!" Sandbar called, adding some Dream magic to the mix.

"I can't hold on to it much longer!" Geno called out.

(_I help too! I add Ember breath to mix!_) Spitfire added more fire to the attack.

"T-t-thunderhand! Activate! L-l-lightening Blitz!" Luigi forced out, attacking the boo with a weak thunder attack. The boo howled in agony as Geno let the group attack fly. It vanquished the boo on the spot.

"Luigi?" Wario called.

"Is it gone?" Luigi asked.

"Yes, it is gone. Next time, try the trick I told you about." Sandbar responded.

Luigi nodded, as the party moved forward. After several hours of walking, the Sky grew dark as night set in. Luigi noticed that if he listened hard enough, he could make out the voice of Lunella, his aunt, calling in the night. Her words soothed him, and he drifted off to sleep, unaware of the three sets of eyes watching in the trees.

"He is asleep, Darkstar! Do your stuff!" Darksun called softly.

He was answered by a snore. Darkstar met the business end of Darksuns back leg, and woke up mid fall. He squawked, unfurled his wings, and shot back up the tree. Darkmoon let out a mew of laughter. Darksun checked to see if Luigi was still asleep, which he was.

"Did you have to kick me out of the tree? You could have killed me!" Darkstar complained.

"Give him a nightmare he won't soon wake up from, Darkstar!" Darksun ordered, "Or I'll knock you out before I kick you out of this tree!"

"One mammoth nightmare coming up!" Darkstar leapt from the tree, and glowed for a second. He disappeared into Luigi's dream. Luigi was dreaming of home, in the mushroom kingdom.

**Luigi's Dream**

_"Daisy!" Luigi called, giving the love of his life a hug._

_"Luigi, I missed you! It's so good for you to have finally come home!" Daisy cried, but her tone was saddened._

_"Dais? What's wrong?" Luigi asked, using his pet name for the Saraland princess._

_"Luigi, there is no easy way to tell you this, but Bowser called. He said that Mario died." Daisy choked up._

_"How? Why?" Luigi asked, cold terror in his heart._

_"We don't know, yet. He went peacefully, in his sleep." Daisy said softly, "Kamick is going to perform the autopsy. We will know tonight. Are you going to go comfort Peach? She is beside herself with grief."_

_"I'll go." As Luigi stumbled out into the hallway of the castle, his mind reeled in shock. _

_"_This is a dream! I'm only dreaming!_" Luigi thought to himself._

_"_Or is it?_" Someone whispered into his ear._

_Luigi went rigid, and turned around slowly. The hallway was empty. He heard the sound of Peach sobbing, and went to her. As he sat with her, he looked outside to see Brighton, but something was wrong. The Sun looked brighter. Luigi went outside, and watched in horror as Brighton's hands glowed crimson. He attacked the world he promised to nourish, and love._

_"Dad, no!" Luigi screamed, finally figuring out what was going on. Brighton had become pseudo. Luigi watched as Brighton's robes went black, a sign that he was becoming a cancerous sun. Luigi felt his stomach tie itself into knots as he realized what he would have to do. He went solar, and challenged the diseased Brighton into battle. No matter what he did, his father was always a step ahead of him. He found himself reeling backward as Brighton landed a series of devastating punches to his chest. The next thing he knew, it was dark._

_"Luigi, you need to wake up! You are under Darkstar's nightmare spell!" Brighton called._

_"No! I do I know you are not pseudo, still?" Luigi asked._

_"Because, he still is pseudo." Darkstar slunk out of the shadows, "I shall now finish you off!"_

_"Luigi, listen to me! I am not pseudo! I am your father, and I love you, my son, and my heir to the skies! You know Darkstar is your enemy!" Brighton cried out._

_"You wouldn't believe a pseudo sun, now would you, Luigi?" Darkstar asked._

_"I… I know who I believe, Darkstar!" Luigi's right hand glowed blue and a blast of electricity struck the winged panthers shoulder._

_"May I join you, Luigi?" Brighton asked._

_"Please do." Luigi smiled softly as both father and son turned toward the enemy. Brighton's left hand glowed crimson, while his right glowed blue. He let his fury fly in the form of fire and electricity. Luigi added his own green fireballs and thunderhand to the mix. Darkstar did not have a chance to fight back. The cat went down, and did not move again._

Luigi woke up feeling oddly refreshed, and as he looked ahead, he saw the edge of the forest. The party moved forward an hour later. At around noon, they burst from the trees.

"We have to cross Anguish Way, and then we are at the mountains!" Geno called, "lets rope up while we still can!"

Wario passed out the ropes, and everybody tied himself or herself to the wagon so no one would get lost. They moved forward at a slower pace. Bare, blackened trees faded into view every now and then. It was colder, too, despite the attempts of Brightstar to heat up the day. Somewhere behind them, Darksun, and Darkmoon followed.

"The prince is strong. He defeated Darkstar." Darkmoon said.

"Now that the bumbling idiot is gone, our plan will succeed. You are up." Darksun said.

Darkmoon took off after Luigi. She used her voice, and began to wail a mournful song to the sky. Luigi felt a chill run down his spine, and turned to see if he could spot where the singing was coming from. Sunfire pawed the ground nervously, as the rope drew taunt, forcing her to move along. Luigi turned back around, and chose to ignore it. On his right, a pile of bones rose into the sky. He realized he could smell the decay, and then he heard a long, low wail that sent shivers up his spine. A white boo appeared in front of him, forcing him to scream.

He remembered Sandbars advice, and used it. He imagined the Boo in roller-skates, and watched it flounder around, and disappear. A low growl sounded behind him, and he turned to face Darkmoon.

"Oh not again!" He cried.

Luigi watched with a pounding heart as the dark tigress raised a sharp claw, and sliced through the rope tying him to the wagon.

"Now," she purred, "You are truly alone."

"That is where you are wrong! I'm never alone! My father is always with me in spirit!" Luigi cried, wondering where his sudden bravery was coming from.

(_Master have me too!_) Sunfire growled, opening her wings slightly to make herself look bigger.

"Yes, but they will leave you eventually, Prince Luigi." Darkmoon snarled.

(_Not me! I bonded to Master! I die, Master die! Master die, I die!_) Sunfire retorted.

"Not always, freak of nature!" Darkmoon screamed.

(_You talk enough! Now Master and I fight you! Stardust Blast!_) Sunfire's horn glowed white, and white energy swirled into Darkmoon. She screamed, and unleashed an attack of her own. Luigi found himself hanging on for dear life as his yoshi and the harbinger of fear battled each other. He was too busy clinging to Sunfire's saddle to offer any help to the yoshi. Suddenly, Beau and Solance burst through the fog. Solance and Spitfire warped as one to appear behind Darkmoon, while Dawn and Beau took up position near him. The tree yoshies formed a triangle, and raised their hands skyward.

"We will finish you off, Darkmoon!" Dawn cried, "Dragon power!"

(_Mythical Power!_) Sunfire called.

(_Neutral power!_) Spitfire called.

White light formed in all three yoshies hands, and connected, forming a triangle with each yoshi at its point. Luigi braced himself. He had seen Starstone, Sandstone, and Firestone, three of the hallowed yoshies, use the same attack, and knew what was coming. Solance and Beau braced themselves for the upcoming shockwave as well. Solance silently prayed that Spitfire would warp fast enough out of the way, while Dawn flexed her wings, getting ready to fly. Luigi felt Sunfire tense up her wing muscles, and knew she was going to fly with Dawn and Beau. The triangle of light shrank, not giving Darkmoon a chance to scream before she was obliterated in the blast. All three yoshies moved out of harms way.

"How did you know I was in trouble?" Luigi asked.

"Sunfire instant messaged me and Spitfire with her telepathy." Dawn explained, "lets go catch up to the others."

"Thanks, Sunfire." Luigi followed Solance, with Beau and Dawn behind him. The fog dissolved to reveal the rocky slopes of the Celestial Mountains. The mountain closest to them was light purple, and Luigi recognized it at once.

"Star Peak! We are almost there!" He cried.

"There are the rest of our party! Lets go!" Solance called.

They met up with everyone else, and the last leg of their journey began. Luigi didn't see the dark shape in front of him, as Darksun shot up the mountain side. The lion landed, and lifted his voice to the darkening sky. Night descended at an accelerated pace. Over head in the sky, Brightstar checked his watch, and glanced down to see Darksun, his body blazing, forcing darkness to descend early.

"Dis not happening to da sky!" The sun screamed, dive bombing the lion.

Darksun looked up to late, and got a face full of Brightstars fireballs. Hissing, the lion swatted at the Sun. Luigi arrived, and landed an attack on Darksun.

"You look like you could use a hand, Uncle!" Luigi called.

"Together, now! Thunderbolt!" Brightstar called.

"Firewinds! Attack!" Luigi called on one of his more powerful attacks. A wind made of fire blasted across the land, and rose like a fire snake, and came down on Darkstar at the same time Brightstars thunderbolt landed. Darksun did not have time to scream, as his body was vaporized. The Darkness kept coming.

"Luigi, go up da mountain and finish this!" Brightstar called, as he flamed out, "I'll protect Brighton!"

"Lets go!" Luigi called, taking the lead.

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**Queen Sunstar: Next chapter is the long awaited finale of Critical. It is going to be a long chapter, so it will take me some time to finish it. It is under complete wraps, and I will do my best to have it up by June, hopefully. **

**Twila: Expect tons of action, and don't forget to review! Critical has over 1159 hits, and 43 reviews!**

**Queen Sunstar: I will let out one detail, better yet, here is a tiny preview.**

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"I'm your brother, Waluigi! You know me! I know you can hear me!" Luigi screamed.

"Unfortunately, Waluigi is gone, Luigi." the Daybreaker spoke.

"Really? The Waluigi I know would be fighting his heart out to defeat you! Leave Waluigi's body alone, Daybreaker!" Luigi shot back.

"Luigi, it's not working, and I know what will!" Geno cried out, launching forward into a dead run at Waluigi. When they touched, a bright bluish light spread out over the deck of the Blade, and faintly, Luigi heard Geno scream.

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**Queen Sunstar: That's all I'm giving out! **

**Twila: Reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	17. Fighting to Save the Whole World

**Queen Sunstar: Here it is! The long awaited finale of Critical! **

**Twila: Queen Sunstar owns only the plot and her own characters. Nintendo owns everything else.**

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"Brighton! Da Harbingers fallen! Luigi very close!" Brightstar screamed, flaming into Brighton's bedroom.

"Where is he at?" Brighton asked, looking up from a pile of paperwork to see his younger brother.

"He on Star Peak now!" Brightstar cried, "Dis nightmare almost over!"

"Brightstar, The nightmare is beginning. Luigi has three, two, if we are lucky, big battles coming." Brighton said.

"Three?" Brightstar asked.

"First, he'll fight the Daybreaker, and hopefully, defeat him, then he'll have to fight the Hellhound, and if he is too late, he will have to fight you know who." Brighton said, closing his eyes to reestablish his telepathic connection with Luigi. He had been watching as Luigi toiled up Star Peak. He smiled softly, knowing that soon, Luigi would reach the summit, and bring back the light.

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Luigi pulled himself up the final ledge, and stared at what he saw before him. A golden arch curved gracefully into the black sky. Three stars crowned its arch, and two ribbons curled down around the arches legs. Luigi stood, and walked toward the arch. The others fell into step beside him, and they entered the Star Realm. Instantly, a red and black striped star stopped them.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Luigi, and I came because the Daybreaker is back, and I need to speak to the good star Daydream!" Luigi said.

"I'm the Nightmare star, Daydreams husband. Call me Night. Daydream! The you know who, and the you know what is starting! The Prince has come!" Night called, "For the record, I'm evil gone good."

"Gracious me, Night! This is serious! I am going to tell you everything about what is coming! The day is here, at last! Are you Star born, young Prince?" Daydream asked.

"Star born?" Luigi asked.

"She means, are you born of the stars, with solar and lunar blood coursing through you?" Night asked.

"My manners! Dear Prince, do come in! Who else is traveling with you?" Daydream asked, elbowing Night aside so Luigi could walk into the room.

"Please, call me Luigi." Luigi said, introducing everybody, "I know I have solar and lunar blood in me, as my parents are Brighton and Twila, the rulers of Skyland. I don't know about having any star blood in me."

"Come with me, then." Daydream said, leading the way into a large white room, similar o the Recovery Room at Eldstars Sanctuary. **(Brotherhood, CH. 7)** several other stars were already there. Two of them were dark gold, and their nameplates above their chairs read Flamar, and Formar. One star was black, and his nameplate read Teachar. One star was blue, while the other was white. The blue stars nameplate read Stormar, while the white stars nameplate read Timar.

"Welcome, young Prince." the ancient stars chorused.

"Luigi, it is time you learned the whole truth. The Daybreaker aims not to bring back Dark Utopia, but to awaken Sinistar. I shall take you back to the battle that started this mess…"

**DAYDREAMS STORY**

_Eons ago, before the formation of the universe we know today, Nine new legionnaires rose to power. They watched over the Great Birth of the Universe we know today. It was peaceful for a time, until Solon was murdered, by Sinistar. He turned pure evil, and went after the still young universe, planning to rule it someday. Eldstar challenged him to a dual, one on one, despite the other seven Star Spirits protests of no._

_"I can't have you running amok through the Universe, Sinistar! You are my brother, and I don't want to fight you, but I have no choice! You and me, one on one, here and now!" Eldstar demanded, eyes narrowed._

_"so the great leader appears. Did I hurt your precious universe, old geezer?" Sinistar sneered._

_"Sinistar! You didn't!" Zarthose screamed._

_"I may be old, but I'm wiser then you are! Bring it on!" Eldstar challenged._

_"Fine! Shadow Strife!" Sinistar screamed, his left arm glowing dark purple. He struck Eldstars chest with all his might. The older star didn't flinch._

_"Is that the best you got? Try a Strike! Of the Seven Stars!" Eldstar screamed, releasing seven mini stars with razor sharp edges. The stars pelted Sinistar, leaving bloody gashes in their wake. Sinistar howled, and lunged, wrapping his points around Eldstars neck. He began to squeeze the life out of Eldstar. Silently, Eldstars forehead began to glow as a marking appeared. _

_"Time to…shake things…up!" Eldstar gasped, glowing even brighter. _

_Suddenly, he heaved the younger star off of him, and rose into the sky. He burned even brighter still, and brought his arms together._

_"Heavens Fire! Blast!" He screamed, releasing all the power he had on Sinistar, who howled in rage, and shot into the sky, growing larger at an alarming rate. His eyes turned red with black irises, and black fur grew from his arms, head, and legs. He growled._

_"How do you like me now, Eldstar?" Sinistar raised a furry arm, and lashed out, connecting squarely with Eldstars body, sending him flying backwards. This went on for some time._

_"I can't watch any more! He is losing badly! There is something we must be able to do!" Misstar screamed. _

_"There is nothing we can do, other then somehow bring Solon back to life, and get him to tell where he hid his staff." Skolar turned away from the ongoing battle._

_Suddenly, a warming, golden glow filled the area, and a thundering voice screamed, "STOP!" the combatants stopped, and turned. Hovering before them was Solon._

_"Eldstar, Take the Star Rod, now! it's the only way for you to contain him, until I can be reincarnated, and defeat that guy for good!" Solon cried, "The staff will remain hidden until then!"_

_"but you're dead!" Eldstar wiped the blood dripping down into his eye._

_"Trust me, you old fool! I don't have time for this! Take it now!" Solon roared, shoving it into Eldstars hands, "it's the only way!"_

_"I trust you, Solon!" Eldstar turned, and time moved forward. Eldstar raised the Star Rod, and felt it charging power. Zarthose shot behind Sinistar, and began to chant, building up power for a seal. The other star spirits added their own power to the mix, and Eldstar let the attack fly. Sinistar absorbed the hit, and crackled evilly._

_"It didn't work!" Eldstar screamed._

_"Solons planets!" Skolar screamed, "Call to the people of the planets, and get them to wish it so! The Star Rod operates on wish power!"_

_"But only two of his worlds were inhabited!" Eldstar cried._

_"Call to them, now!" Mamar yelled._

_"Planet Earth! Planet Utopia! I am calling! I need your power! Wish Sinistar gone!" Eldstar cried, watching in amazement as the Star Rod glowed even brighter. He attacked Sinistar again. Sinistar shot around Utopia, and blasted the planet to bits. The Star Rod dimmed drastically._

_"No! He destroyed Utopia!" Kalmar screamed, as he and Muskular shot toward planet Earth, hoping to protect it._

_"Planet Earth, Sinistar destroyed Utopia! I need you all to stand behind me now! Wish Sinistar gone! Please! Help me now! He'll destroy you next!" Eldstar screamed, watching as the Star Rod grew brighter, but it was still dim._

_Mamar took off into the planet. She knew that the power they had wasn't enough. She shot down to the surface, and streaked like a shooting star across the planet._

_"We need help! We need the whole world standing unified behind us! This isn't about us anymore! The whole universe is in dire peril! Please, stand up, and wish like you've never wished before! Dig deeper! Wish Sinistar gone! Call out Ancient Star Rod Power, and give us all you got! This is for Utopia!" Mamar cried, feeling waves of powerful wish energy ebb off the planet._

_The star rod burned even brighter, and Eldstar released it all on Sinistar. Zarthose gave everything he had to keep his seal around Sinistar._

_"No! I can't be defeated! I'll come back!" Sinistars voice was cut off as Zarthose's seal wrapped around him, and silenced him. _

_The time stream fast forwarded to Eldstar standing on the outer steps of the Star Palace, with Zarthose, who has several large suitcases surrounding him._

_"Zarthose, we will miss you. I understand why you are leaving us. It is for the best." Eldstar said, "But was it smart to hide the seal inside planet earth?"_

_"It was the only way to contain that thing, Sire. I'm going to miss this place. Well, the Seal isn't going to protect itself, so I'm off. See ya!" Zarthose smiled, and orbed out with his suitcases in tow._

_Once again, the time stream fast forwarded to Zarthose, in his underground home. The old Ztar stood inside his library. He walked over to the door, and followed the twisting tunnels into another room. This room was bare of any kind of furniture, or belongings. The only thing in this room is a single seal, laying on a slop of earth. Zarthose walked up to it, and it began to glow._

_"Not this time, Sinistar. Ancient powers alight! Unite, burning darkness aglow! Lock this evil, and keep it from my sight!" Zarthose chanted, watching as the seal's glow dimmed, and went out. Zarthose performed the spell every twenty years from that point on._

**END DAYDREAMS STORY**

"Tonight, Zarthose will perform the spell to strengthen the seal for another twenty years. This is when the Daybreaker and the Hellhound will strike. We ancient stars have decided to give you the ability to become the dreaded Firegod. Only Firegod can hold on his own against Sinistar. He shall not fight alone, for he will have the aid of Solstice, the winged leopard, helping him." Daydream said.

"The question now is, are you up to it?" Teachar asked.

"What is Firegod?" Luigi asked, "I thought he was my dads beast form."

"He belonged to your father, Luigi, but your father chose to give up Firegod to save your mother. Will you take him back?" Night asked.

"I uh, okay." Luigi said, "Give me Firegod."

At that moment, the mountain shook.

"it's the Daybreaker! He's here!" Formar screamed.

"Then we go out and fight!" Mallow screamed.

"Lets do this!" Solance led the way, evolving into Summer Solstice as he went. His robes went golden, and oranges wings appeared on his back. His spikes grew longer, and more numerous. They ran down his back like a mane. His eyes turned yellow. They gathered outside.

"Waluigi! Fight!" Luigi called, "You are my brother! Fight!"

"how about I fight you! Hydro blast!" the Daybreaker called, sending a blast of water at Luigi, which did a little damage.

"I'm electricity, Waluigi! You know you are weak against me! Fight the Daybreaker! You are not evil!" Luigi cried, choosing not to fight back, for he knew fighting won't solve anything.

"Water is weak, but is metal weak against you, or how about pure darkness?" Waluigi raised both hands, and cupped them together. Dark energy formed in his hands, "Dark antimatter blast!" he let the energy fly. Luigi saw it coming, and screamed. Out of nowhere, Summer Solstice came flying.

"Luigi! No!" He took the hit, and crumbled to the ground, devolving in the process.

"Solance!" Luigi cried, "Talk! Are you okay?"

"I'll live…" Came the faint reply.

The battle ragged, and moved to the deck of the Blade. Mallow, Mckonic, and Geno found themselves doing most of the fighting. Geno saw the Hellhound leave the ship, and race toward Zarthose's Lair.

"Mallow! Mckonic! Wario! Dawn! Sparky! Intercept the Hellhound, and what ever you do, do not let him get down to Zarthose!" Geno ordered.

"We're on it!" Mckonic called, "Hey Hellhound! How does one of my Dragon lance strikes feel? Hurts, don't it? Have another one!"

"How about we rattle your brains with an Earthquake Storm!" Wario crowed, causing an earthquake to occur.

"Prince Waluigi, you must fight back and reclaim your body! The Daybreaker is vile, and has fed you lies!" Beau screamed, "Prince Luigi, I'm going to go help Prince Wario!"

"Don't you see? Waluigi is gone. I am Waluigi now." The Daybreaker growled.

"I'm your brother, Waluigi! You know me! I know you can hear me!" Luigi screamed.

"Unfortunately, Waluigi is gone, Luigi." the Daybreaker spoke.

"Really? The Waluigi I know would be fighting his heart out to defeat you! Leave Waluigi's body alone, Daybreaker!" Luigi shot back.

"Luigi, it's not working, and I know what will!" Geno cried out, launching forward into a dead run at Waluigi. When they touched, a bright bluish light spread out over the deck of the Blade, and faintly, Luigi heard Geno scream. He ran toward the scream, and got there in time to watch Geno's body go flying, and hit the deck with a sickening crunch of bone. He sat up slowly, wand out, and smoking.

"I was you at one time, Waluigi!" With a scream of pain, the star guardian rose to his feet, "Listen to me! You are not evil!"

The Daybreaker struck out again, and Geno went down. Luigi could only scream in horror as Waluigi towered over the dying Guardian.

"You keep saying you were me at one time, guardian. How satisfying for me to defeat the part of me that was good." Waluigi struck out, and Geno screamed. He gathered the last of his energy, and lashed out with an attack he hoped he would never have to use.

"Geno Star Supernova!" Geno screamed.

Supernova force winds and white hot ultraviolet light shot from Geno's hands, sending the Daybreaker flying. Waluigi hit the ground, and skidded. Luigi ran to Geno's side.

"Geno!" He cried.

"Luigi, everything is going to be okay now. Remember, look to the great live giver in your ranks when the going gets too hard. I'm afraid, my game is ending." Geno whispered.

"But you can't die! I thought you were immortal!" Luigi wailed, not wanting to lose one of his best friends.

"Even we immortals can get our backsides kicked, Luigi." Geno smiled, but it was a pained effort.

"But an immortal can't die!" Luigi tried.

"Yes, we can. All being immortal means is that we live forever if we are careful. We aren't exempt from the same dangers befalling mortals. My time here may be ending, but my time on the other side is just beginning. I'm only going to a place where I can watch over my friends." Geno's eyes began to close.

"No, stay with me! Hang in there!" Luigi cried, but it was no use. Geno took his last breath, and was gone. Luigi felt himself shaking, and rose to face a scowling Waluigi.

"how touching." the Daybreaker sneered.

"You! You murderer! You will pay for it!" Luigi screamed, firing off several electric based attacks at Waluigi.

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"He's too strong! I can't keep this up!" Wario cried, ducking as the Hellhound took anther swing at his head.

"We have to stop him from reaching Zarthose!" Beau cried, "Starry Squall!"

His attack was swatted aside by the Hellhound. Wario launched off another earth based attack, and managed to cause some damage. Dawn and Mckonic both launched off dragonic based attacks, which did nothing. Sparky tried an electric attack, and did some damage. Through the entire battle, they were losing ground. Behind them, Mallow snuck behind the Hellhound, charging a powerful electric attack. Sparky saw, and joined him.

"Ready?" Mallow whispered.

"Ready." Sparky whispered back.

Mallow cupped his hands, his fists glowing. Sparky prepared by lighting up with electricity. Mallow wrapped his electrified hands around Sparky, and braced himself.

"Thunder blast!" They called, releasing a continuing blast of electricity at the Hellhound, causing bad damage. The Hellhound turned, and flicked his right wrist, sending both mallow and Sparky flying into a wall. He fought back, forcing the others back. Just when it seemed hopeless, Zarthose appeared.

"I thought I heard fighting! Hellhound, you are never going to reawaken Sinistar! Burning Ztar Fire!" Zarthose screamed, using a fire based attack on the Hellhound. His attack brought the evil shadow to his knees, and the next thing they knew, Zarthose was flung into the wall. Another attack by a recovered Mallow and Sparky dropped the Hellhound back down to his knees, and Wario raised his hand, palm down, and made a fist, forcing a chunk of earth to rise, and form a perfect sphere.

"Lets combine attacks!" He screamed.

"Dragons Rage!" Dawn didn't hesitate. A ring of dragon fire joined the sphere. Seconds later, a starry squall, Shocker, Lightening Blitz, Dragon Rain, and a Burning Ztar Fire joined the sphere. Wario drew his arm back, and held the sphere with his left hand, adding Earth energy into the sphere. He threw it at the Hell hound, who went down. The Hellhound wasn't out. Zarthose saw the charging attack, and threw himself in front of Wario, taking the hit. As he went down, he fired off another attack, taking out the Hellhound for good.

"The seal… Its broken… He's free…" Zarthose gasped.

"Zarthose? What do we do?" Wario asked, "Tell me your spell, and I'll take care of it!"

"Wario… I'm dying… its too late…" Zarthose rasped.

"You protected me!" Wario dropped to his knees, next to the Star Spirit.

"I won't be… needed anymore… this is… for the best… Go now… young prince… and protect your world…" Zarthose rasped, his body fading.

"But Zarthose! How do I defeat Sinistar?" Wario asked.

"Look to the… great life giver… among your ranks.. and you will know…" Zarthose gasped, his body barely visible, then he was gone. Wario stood.

"Lets go, and alert Luigi to the situation." He led them back out to the battle outside. Wario saw Geno, and ran to him. Dropping to his knees, he felt great sobs shaking the earth as they ripped free of his throat. He didn't have to be a doctor to know that Geno was gone.

Luigi continued to rip into Waluigi with everything he had. All of his anger, his grief, and his frustration came pouring out of him with each hit he landed. Suddenly, he was shot backward, and he landed on his injured shoulder, which protested painfully.

"Are you done, yet?" The Daybreaker sounded bored.

Once again, Solance rose behind him.

"I cast thee out in the name of all that's good! Be gone, evil, wretched spirit! I cast thee out in the name of his grace, Great Lord Brighton of the Sky! I banish you to rot forever in the fires of Argon! Leave Waluigi's body now! I cast thee out in the name of all that's goo-ahhh!" Once again, he was sent crashing back down to the ground. The group regrouped near the body of Geno.

"We lost Geno." Luigi said.

"And Zarthose, too!" Wario wailed, "and we failed to prevent you know who from escaping!"

"We can't keep this up much longer!" Dawn cried, "We are all injured, and tired!"

Luigi sighed, and stared out at the desolate battlefield. The deck of the Blade was scared, and pitted from the recent battle, and blood decorated a railing here and there, and puddles of it pockmarked the deck. Geno's body lay in one of the puddles. Luigi was somehow reminded of the prophecy.

That prophecy… it was wrong! The translation was wrong! Geno never went dark!" Luigi cried.

"He's right. It says to look to the great life giver among our ranks. Solance! that's it! Solance! Bring in the day!" Mallow cried.

"Bring in the day? Have you lost it?" Solance asked.

"Solance, he's on to something! Bring in the day! Daylight is the Daybreaker's greatest weakness!" Luigi cried.

"But I can't!" Solance cried.

"Solance, you have to do it! I would do it, but I haven't been trained yet! Go, Solance, do it for my father! Save his skies!" Luigi cried, "Its up to you, now!"

Solance took a deep breath, and shot up into the sky. He went solar, and forced his body to glow brighter. He evolved into Summer Solstice again, and burned even brighter. Below him, he heard the Daybreaker scream in agony as pure sunlight shone down on him. Waluigi's mouth opened, and the Soul left his body. He crumbled to the ground, into a lifeless heap. The Soul shot up into the sky, and crashed into the light, where it exploded into a thousand pieces. Solstice brought forward the daylight, filling the valley below with light.

"Wally! Wake up! Say something! I don't wanna be alone yet!" Wario wailed, shaking Waluigi like a rag doll.

"Okay, Stop trying to give me Shaken Adult Syndrome for two minutes, will you?" Waluigi asked.

"You're dead! I mean, you're alive! I mean, you're undead, right?" Wario asked.

"Actually, I'm dead, remember? I still have my body as a gift from Eldstar for defeating Lowser." Waluigi said. **(Brotherhood, CH 2)**

"We did it, you guys. We saved the whole world, but the cost was too high. We lost Geno." Luigi said, his voice low.

"Oh crud! I just remembered!" Waluigi raced back into the Blade, and set the stars, and the women free.

"Wally, you came back to us." Violet said.

"I was finally set free." Waluigi said.

"Lets go. I have had enough with dungeons to last me awhile." Daisy said.

They went outside.

"Luigi, we lost Zarthose, too." Wario said.

"No, you didn't!" Skolar screamed.

At that moment, Spectra warped back in, his eyes wild with fright. He still carried the damage from his last fight with the Daybreaker.

"**Sinistar is reawakening!**" Spectra cried.

The words had barely left his mouth, when the Earth roared around them. The ravine cracked, and Skyland split open. Thick, ominous, dark clouds billowed across the sky, bringing the promise of a massive storm. Darkness poured from the opening. It looked like Skyland was bleeding.

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"What is happening out there?" Brighton asked.

"Sinistar." Brightstar responded, "Da ground, it open up, bleeding darkness. Skyland splitting, become two lands." the younger sun turned, "You can't be thinking what I think you thinking."

"If you think I'm thinking of sending some of my power to Luigi, then you are correct." Brighton said, concentrating on Luigi. He glowed softly, and felt his power level drain as if left him, and went to Luigi.

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"Is that Sinistar?" Mallow asked.

"Yes." Eldstar said.

Luigi glared at the rising star angrily. Behind him, Waluigi came across the body of Geno, and gasped.

"I don't believe it! I killed myself!" He cried.

Wario started laughing. Everyone gave him an odd look.

"He killed himself!" Wario chortled, getting smacked by Waluigi.

"You know what I mean!" Waluigi cried.

"You two do realize there is a giant dark star hell bent on destroying the last of Solon's creations, Us!" Luigi cried, "Waluigi, how far can you ghost.?"

"I don't know!" Waluigi answered, "I haven't figured it out yet!"

"We need Mario so we can perform an elemental bros attack!" Luigi cried, finding himself surprisingly calm, despite the fact a giant dark star was about to destroy everything.

"Luigi, take Firegod, and go after it!" Daydream cried, as Luigi's Sunstone glowed. The green plumber nodded.

"Solance and I will hold that thing off! Daisy, Peach, Rose, Violet, go Guardian, and protect the others!" Luigi ordered, already evolving. Solance dropped from the sky, and went Solstice, the winged tiger. Luigi went Brightsun first, then on to Firegod.

"The others and I will provide back up!" Wario called.

"I'm going to try to ghost to Mario, if I can!" Waluigi called, focusing on his ghost power.

Firegod opened his leathery gold wings, and launched into the sky. Growling, he dove, fire breathing, at Sinistar. Solstice joined him, attacking Sinistar with his own earth attacks.

"Your puny attacks don't faze me." Sinistar punched Firegod in the gut, and a round house kick sent Solstice tumbling out of the sky, yowling. Waluigi ghosted out.

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Waluigi focused on Mario, thought of nothing else but Mario, and felt the familiar sensation of his body going to sleep, and being forced to wake back up suddenly. He opened his eyes, and bit back a scream.

"Geez, Mario! They invented shower curtains for a reason!" He cried, a hand over his eyes.

"Waluigi! Do you mind? They didn't count on brothers who ghost everywhere!" Mario asked.

He was in the bathtub. Thankfully, it was a bubble bath. Waluigi had ghosted right into the guest room bathroom.

"Luigi sent me! We need the Elemental bros! You are fire!" Waluigi replied, his eyes still covered.

"But I just went through surgery to save dad! Do I have to go?" Mario asked.

"Yes, you have to! I'm going to step outside, and I want you ready to go in five minutes!" Waluigi said.

There was a splash, followed by a scream.

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Firegod hit the ground, and slid several feet. He staggered back up to his feet, only to get hit by a falling Solstice. The dragon rose from the billowing dust, and nailed an electric attack, forcing Sinistar back a few feet.

"Firegod, is this the best you've got? Shadow Surge!" Sinistar snarled, releasing a wave of shadowy purple light at Firegod, who took damage from the hit. He staggered, and lashed out with his tail, leaving bloody gashes on Sinistars body with each hit. Sinistar grabbed Firegods tail, and twisted. Firegod howled, and twisted his body around, trying to get at Sinistar. Solstice rose anew behind them, and lashed out with a multitude of earth and fire based attacks, forcing Sinistar down to his knees, and freeing Firegod. The fire dragon lunged, pinning the star down, and getting a face full of shadow fire. The next thing he knew, he was thrown backward, and Sinistar, snarling angrily, dawned over him. Solstice shot down at Sinistar, and was swatted aside. He hit the ground hard on his right side, and devolved.

"I'm down for the count! Thanks for the save, Flora!" Solance called, as Daisy, in Flora form, raced out to get him.

"What hurts?" Violet asked. She had evolved into Aqueena, her evolved form. She looked like Flora, except she wore purple and blue, and had pale blue wings.

"I'll live." Solance replied, a hand on his injured leg.

"But I don't want to fight him alone! What's keeping Waluigi?" Firegod protested, dodging another swipe by Sinistar, "I can't keep doing this!"

"Shine Sprite?" Mckonic handed Solance a shine sprite. Only a Sun could use Shine energy, a form of energy generated by Shine Sprites.

"Thanks." Solance felt the life giving rays of Shine energy flow into him, healing him. At that moment, Daisy screamed.

"Firegod!" She cried, "No! Get back up! Move!"

Firegod lay still, trapped under Sinistars body. He didn't move, or try to fight back as the evil star attacked him with shadow attacks. Waluigi ghosted in with a fully dressed Mario in tow. Waluigi was sopping wet.

"Dude, what happened to you?" Wario asked.

"You don't need to know!" Waluigi snapped.

"It involved a bathtub full of water, and our idiot of a brother. Unfortunately, I was trapped between them!" Mario said.

"You didn't have to use your firebrand to boil the water!" Waluigi cried.

Wario put two, and two together, and howled in laughter.

"You didn't have to fall into the bathtub, walking stick!" Mario shot back.

"I'm not a walking stick, Fire breath!" Waluigi argued back.

"Eggplant eater!" Mario screamed.

"Mushroom lover!" Waluigi scowled.

"Stickman!" Mario yelled.

"Pompous bag of gas!" Waluigi snapped.

"Skinny!" Mario hollered.

"Fatty!" Waluigi cried.

"HEY! BOTH OF YOU! STOP IT!" Wario shot up between them, "Luigi is out there, fighting for us all, and you two have the nerve to be fighting among yourselves! Waluigi, he does have a point about you being skinny, and Mario, you do have a gut."

"it's a pasta gut, and I'm proud of it!" Mario snapped.

"YOU WANT A GUT TO BE PROUD OF? MY GUT IS SOMETHING OF A WORLD WONDER!" Wario screamed.

"YEA! AND IT STINKS, TOO!" Mario screamed.

"WHO YOU CALLING STINKY?" Wario shrilled.

"YOU! YOU POMPOUS BAG OF ROTTING GARLIC!" Mario yelled.

"ROTTING GARLIC? HOW DARE YOU! PREBARE TO SEE THE OTHER SIDE, PIPSQUEAK!" Wario shot on top of Mario. Waluigi saw Peach, and Rose coming, and stepped aside.

"They are yours." He said, jerking a thumb behind him.

Firegod lurched suddenly, throwing Sinistar aside, and launched into the sky. He raced toward the ledge, and landed, reverting back to Luigi, who was breathing heavily. Peach pulled out a iron skillet, and whacked Wario in the head, getting his attention. Rose dragged a struggling Mario away from Wario.

"Let me at him! Let me at him!" Mario cried, squirming around in Roses iron hold.

"No." Rose said, "Unless you promise me you will be a good boy."

"Oww! That thing hurts!" Wario complained.

"Good, don't make me have to hurt you more! Can't you two stop fighting, and get along for once? You guys are brothers, for crying out loud!" Peach said.

"I need you to help me fight Sinistar! Firegod is not strong enough. I'm going Brightsun, and I'm going to use Solons Light. If I do this alone, it is going to kill me. Mario, Wario, can you put your differences aside long enough to help me? Waluigi, you too. Peach, Daisy, Rose, Violet, the prophecy was mistranslated. It is about how celestial guardian and Elemental brother came together to defeat Sinistar for good. Are you with me?" Luigi asked, wondering where the bravery was coming from. Then, he knew. It had been inside of him all this time. He never needed to be afraid. With these thoughts, he went solar, and pulled out the Sunstone, "Dad, give me your strength."

Waluigi, Wario, Mario, Violet, Rose, Peach, and Daisy formed a circle around him, their clothes and hands turning white, their eyes closed. Luigi raised the Sunstone, and pulled it apart, revealing the dancing white light of Solon. He rose several feet into the air, seven ropes of light joining it.

"ANCIENT SUNSTONE POWER!" Everyone cried as one.

"No! Not the white light again! Shadow blaze!" Sinistar screamed.

Light and shadow met with a deafening scream. Slowly, the shadow began to overpower the light.

"We've got to help them!" Skolar screamed.

"No, Skolar! This is not our fight any longer. Its up to Solon now." Eldstar said.

"But Eldstar, what do you mean?" Mamar asked.

"Solon has come to finish what he started. Watch." Eldstar said.

Luigi felt his arms shaking from the strain of clinging to the Sunstone. The shadow was nearly on top of him. Suddenly, the light burned brighter. Luigi did a double take, and blinked. He saw a pair of ghostly arms holding the sunstone with him. He watched as the Sunstone opened itself wider, and even more light flowed through. Luigi turned, and did another double take, and blinked, again.

"Dad? No wait, Solon?" Luigi asked.

"concentrate on defeating Sinistar, Luigi." came the reply.

Luigi focused, and dug deeper into his energy reserves, and felt Brighton's power flow into him.

"Thanks, Dad." Luigi gave the Sunstone everything he had. The light grew brighter, and pushed back the shadowy light. It struck Sinistar, and white lines ran through its body.

"NOOOOOO!" Sinistar exploded into a burst of shadowy light, and dissipated. He was gone forever. Luigi shut down the Sunstone, and felt all of his energy leave him. The last thing he saw, was the face of Eldstar.

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_**Luigi? Can you hear me? **_

_Who are you?_

_**I am Solon, your father. **_

_My father? I Thought Brighton was my father!_

_**I am also Brighton. I was reincarnated as Brighton.**_

_Where am I?_

_**You are home, at Clockwork Castle. We are waiting for you to wake up from your slumber.**_

_I'm asleep?_

_**Bingo! Genius! You figured it out! Now wake up! **_

_How?_

_**Open your eyes, genius.**_

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Sunlight filtered into the room, waking the sleeping green hero. Luigi let his eyes grow accustomed to the light. He turned his head, and saw Brightstar, sitting in the chair next to his bed.

"You gave us quite da scare, there." Brightstar said.

"how long was I out?" Luigi asked.

"you slept for six days. Brighton, Sire, he is awake." Brightstar turned to see Brighton walk into the room. Brighton was almost fully healed.

"Luigi. Good to have you back with us." Brighton said, "Dream anything interesting?" He winked knowingly.

"Other then the conversation with Solon, no. Dad, Is it true?" Luigi asked.

"Yes, it is true. Solon and I are the one and the same." Brighton said.

Six months went by, and Brighton recovered enough to take over his duties as the Great Lord, and as the Sun of the Earth, from Lord Sunnings. Luigi made his decision to follow in Brighton's footsteps, and become Skylands new ruler, and Sun. He sold his mansion to Waluigi, and Daisy moved with him to Clockwork Castle, where her training as Luigi's future Queen, could be overseen by Twila. Solance was promoted to Great Lord, and became Brighton's coworker in the sky. Mckonic decided to stay in Solarsky, and opened a new clinic there. Mallow returned to Nimbus Land, and began his training to become its new King. Waluigi, Wario, and Mario discovered their own yoshies, and Mario began his own training by Peaches father to rule the Mushroom Kingdom. Waluigi discovered he still had the Daybreaker's powers in him, and chose to hone his new powers and became the new star guardian. Wario moved in with rose in Gardena, and soon married her, becoming Gardena's new ruler in the process.

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**Queen Sunstar: Its done. I am going to take a hiatus from writing my Mario fanfics so I can spend time on my neglected Kingdom lost series on my web page. Also, I am going to work on my CSI Miami fan fiction, and get that done too. I'll come back with a fresh new Mario Bros Fanfic sometime this summer. I also need to work on my novel, which is coming out sometime next year. Until then, See you in the forums!**

**Twila: Review, please, and tell us how we did! Like our comedy, right in the middle of the battle? Review to let us know! See you all later!**


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